Afternoon all,
So, today was the first time I have started my 302 and really let it idle (only tried to start it one other time the other day). This is a used 1971 302--supposedly rebuilt--that I installed in place of my old 200 I6. Doing the engine and trans swap has been a huge learning curve but the thing actually does start now, amazingly. This engine has sat for nearly 7 years in a garage.
My concern is that the engine sounds, well, rattley and is just plain noisy.
My only comparison was my old six cylinder (which was supper quiet) and modern cars (guess no real comparison there). The engine has long-tube tri-y headers, cheapo steel chrome valve covers, an aluminum Holley intake, a 500 cfm Edelbrock carb, a Jacobs ignition module, and a stock distributor with a Pertronix Gen 1 system. I also installed a new high volume oil pump.
When I ran the engine, the oil pressure gauge (stock gauge) read near the "H" mark, but temp was fine, running on the low side. I didn't notice any colored smoke in the exhaust, either. After running the engine, I pulled both valve covers to see if the rockers were getting oil, and they were, no problem there.
I did notice that the balancer had a very slight wobble, faint, at lower idle.
- Is a 302 with long tube headers normally noisy?
- Is there something I can check? Could it need a valve adjustment (no clue how to do that).
- Will the high-volume oil pump cause the stock gauge to read near the High mark (I assume yes).
I would really appreciate any thoughts. I could try to record the idle sound in a video, but it probably won't translate well.
Thank you!
So, today was the first time I have started my 302 and really let it idle (only tried to start it one other time the other day). This is a used 1971 302--supposedly rebuilt--that I installed in place of my old 200 I6. Doing the engine and trans swap has been a huge learning curve but the thing actually does start now, amazingly. This engine has sat for nearly 7 years in a garage.
My concern is that the engine sounds, well, rattley and is just plain noisy.
My only comparison was my old six cylinder (which was supper quiet) and modern cars (guess no real comparison there). The engine has long-tube tri-y headers, cheapo steel chrome valve covers, an aluminum Holley intake, a 500 cfm Edelbrock carb, a Jacobs ignition module, and a stock distributor with a Pertronix Gen 1 system. I also installed a new high volume oil pump.
When I ran the engine, the oil pressure gauge (stock gauge) read near the "H" mark, but temp was fine, running on the low side. I didn't notice any colored smoke in the exhaust, either. After running the engine, I pulled both valve covers to see if the rockers were getting oil, and they were, no problem there.
I did notice that the balancer had a very slight wobble, faint, at lower idle.
- Is a 302 with long tube headers normally noisy?
- Is there something I can check? Could it need a valve adjustment (no clue how to do that).
- Will the high-volume oil pump cause the stock gauge to read near the High mark (I assume yes).
I would really appreciate any thoughts. I could try to record the idle sound in a video, but it probably won't translate well.
Thank you!