429 restoration

[Matti Roth]

Hello, and thanks for adding to group!

I am restoring 1964 429 engine which I bought as dismantled. It is said to be smoking in driving and has been stored as parts for a year. It is most probably 65500 miles driven. Car was not driven for10 years.

The only damaged part found so far is the top of exhaust valve of cylinder #5. The top has been worn so much that the rocker has been pressing valve locks as well. Respective rocker is worn as well, much more than others. And exhaust rocker #6 is worn as well, and exhaust #8.
Then questions:
1. What damage could this cause? I can think that valve lift gets a bit smaller than it should, but so what?
2. Is that common for Cadillac 429 exhaust valves to worn from the top, especially cylinders #5 and #6? Maybe there is less oil.

This is my first V8 engine project. I have Shop manual. I plan to replace piston rings, all gaskets, nylon timing gear, some worn exhaust valves and rockers, and valve stem o-rings. Bearings, pistons and shafts are in good condition. 

Big thanks in advance!

[Mark S Anderson]

The most likely cause, obvious cause, for rocker and top end wear is a clogged up rocker shaft that's not allowing oil out through the oil holes.  You will need to make sure the shafts are replaced if worn out and completely clear and clean for reassembly.  

Look at the head bolts, the grey coating is powdered aluminum that came from the lower end.  It looks like you have bad cam or main bearings, and the oil flowed out through those high clearances, causing low pressure and a starved top end.    If the block was never cleaned, there will be cakes of that grey in the valley, a tell tale for a worn out lower end.

[Matti Roth]

Thanks Mark!

I was wondering what is that grey stuff here and there. It is not only those long bolts but in many places in heads and the block.  The bearings do not look much worn though. I need to check the bearing clearances. The block has been cleaned by engine shop, the heads are not yet cleaned.

[Matti Roth]

Could that grey stuff be some kind of anti-seize material used by previous owners? There is no grey stuff in oil pump and not in oil pan. Cam, crank and bearings are in good condition.

[Tony and Ginny 429]

The Teflon cam gears are no longer available or desirable to be replacing 

You want to replace the gear with an all metal one that is available for replacement 

If you now have the Teflon cam gear in reasonably good condition it is a good sign the engine has lower mileage as these Teflon covered gears will come apart in higher mileage cars and leave  broken Teflon parts in the oil pan when they come apart 

The rocker arms and top of the valve stem wear is of coarse a lack of lubrication getting  to those places 

I have ——very often on this site read about —expert engine builders— putting the rocker arms on a newly rebuilt engines backwards which would prevent the rocker arms from oiling the heads as they should be doing —which is hell on a new engine break in for the engines  future longevity 

The fact the other parts of the engine seam to be sound and in fairly new  sound condition and possibly the result of a recent rebuild brought the incorrect installation of the rocker arms and lack of lubrication there to mind 

I am on this site twice a day since 2006 and have not  ever seen anyone with the top of the valve stem wear you are showing  which is excessive 

Rocker arm wear—  without the top of the valve stem wear  you are showing would be more of the normal wear often seen 

Enjoy 

[Tony and Ginny 429]

Sure the kind of valve train wear you are showing here  would be responsible for a very very loud  noisy top end of a 429 engine running and possibly the reason the engine was taken apart 

The up side being—  just having to rebuild the heads to get back to a  good sound running engine is a blessing with the low end of the engine in good form from your inspection so far 

Enjoy 

[Tony and Ginny 429]

The coating on the head bolts and other engine bolts could be an ant- seize compound which is a good practice 

I do not see any metal fragments from wear on the inside or the heads myself 

Enjoy