Hemi solid roller questions

[ewolfe]

I just fired my Hemi after spending several years aquiring parts and building it. It fired right up and ran just fine for about 6-10 minutes or so. I shut it off once the thermostat opened to make sure it worked and the temp did drop. I have a set of TTI ceramic coated headers and didn't want to run it too long incase it was lean or anything. My question has to do with this solid roller cam that's in it. I've never used a roller cam at all, much less a solid roller. The engine made no strange noises or anything on the first fire up...cold start. I let the car sit about 20 or 30 minutes and fired it again to set the timing and check the tranny fluid and such. Upon firing it the 2nd time, I heard fairly lound ticking (maybe borderline knocking, but I could tell it was up high...I think) coming from the pass side and slightly less, but still noticable ticking on the driver's side. I hope and pray it's the need to adjust the lash??? Do I need to adjust the lash on a solid roller cam? Is it normal for this to occur? This is my first and probably my last Hemi I will ever own (this thing has eaten me out of house and home, but well worth it!!!) so I do not want to take any chances on hurting the motor due to my ignorance. The motor is a stroked (472) Hemi built with a Mopar Mega block, JE pistons (11:1) with a zero deck height. The cam is a solid roller .624 lift. The heads are a stock casting that have been ported and polished. The rockers are standard stock issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

P.S. Yea, I know I probably shouldn't have built a motor with components I'm not familiar with, but that's how you learn, right?

[cudabob496]

I have a solid roller in my Cuda (.625 lift) I have to adjust the lash once a year. .020 on the intakes, and .022 on the exhaust.

[ewolfe]

Thanks for the response. I have figured out what the ticking sound is...it's a valve spring or a rocker hitting the valve cover. I'm going to tackel that animal next week. My lash is set at .026 and .028. I should check into finding out exactly what Engle recomends for the lash.

Thanks again.

[cudabob496]

Maybe look under the valve cover to see where it is hitting, then give that spot a little wack with a ballpeen to make room. Or I suppose you could do a little grinding on the valve train. Maybe it's noisy there because something is just out of adjustment. Good luck.