I did do that at some point recently, and I didn’t notice any obvious marking. Though I think it’s possible that it’s just barely making contact with it.

in terms of pushrod length, if I’m already at .126” preload (.120-140 spec), it still could be on the loose end?

 

Any contact should leave a mark..... How long have you ran the engine??

 

It’s been quite a long time. Probably over 15,000 miles on the rockers at this point. When I rebuilt the engine I looked over all the parts when I assembled it and nothing looked damaged. Then again the only thing that remained was the rockers, everything else in the valve train other than the valves themselves was replaced. I don’t have any misfires, or low compression on any cylinders. The engine runs strong and clean.

 

I seem to remember reading somewhere that to have adequate clearance for the roller rockers, you needed to remove the baffles in the valve covers. I think that was for the aluminum full-roller fellers though..... It's been a LONG time ago, so, my memory may not be the best.

I suppose, the question to ask would be: How many does it sound like are hitting?? If it's just one or two.... Not sure I would worry about it.... More than that though, and it might be cause for concern. With the mileage on it, if anything IS hitting, it should be easy to see where.... If you don't see anything, then its some other problem

 

It sounds like it’s just one. It’s about 6-7 ticks a second which sort of lines up with one cylinder at 800rpm idle. This is also just a guess I haven’t actually taken a timer to count a true second.

My next step is to pull the covers off and briefly run it and see if it still makes the sound, but I was just curious if anyone here has run into issues with the Harland’s. I do want to eventually run the NOS mopar magnum finned covers, but those are stock height to my knowledge, so I’ll be running spacers as well if it is the baffles being slapped.

I would just punch out the baffles as well, but I don’t want to run into the issue of the pcv being blocked or the oil fill being blocked

 

Oil fill I think is actually between two cylinders, so, shouldn't be an issue. PCV pulling more oil might be, but, a catch can would solve that. If it's just one, that may make it a LOT easier..... Could probably isolate which one it 'likely' is, with just a decent mechanics stethoscope.

 

Yeah it really sounds like one, I can hear it from both sides of the engine when I’m just standing next to the truck, but it is louder from the driver side. That makes me think what I’m hearing on the passenger side is either just resonance, or it’s a symmetrical issue, just louder on one bank.

I would really think the big thing it could be is a bad rocker if it’s not baffle clearance as literally everything else has been changed. I have tried the loose end and the tight end for the old melling stock replacement lifters I had, and also low and mid end for the new Hughes lifters I have, and the sound hasn’t changed. If I still hear the tapping while the valve covers are off, I’m probably going to pull a pair of rockers off of the bad cylinder and swap them with a different one and see if the sound moves, which should rule out preload.

Im not against putting in new pushrods again, of course it’s not like it’s hard, I just don’t want to parts cannon this thing.

 

Diagnosis is generally more time consuming, but, it is also a lot cheaper than the parts cannon.

 

Well on the bright side, I am parts cannoning it and it is fixing problems I didn’t know it had, just not the one I want lol.

When I replaced my exhaust gaskets with remflex ones, I did find I did actually have a small leak

 

Couple of 'em......