Domesticated the beast

[veggie]

Give it some time.
Make sure the clearance is set right. Then observe.
Mine took about 5 hrs. of running before it started rotating properly.
Also, while you have the tappet adjusting screw backed off, see if you can rotate the lifter.
Sometimes the over zealous painter in the factory slops a bunch of green stuff into the tappet bore. 

veggie

[LowGear]

Thanks for the peek under the tent.

Casey

[luv2weld]

Ref: rotation of intake tappet

I found several things that affected the rotation on mine.
As veggie said---clearance. And remember that is effected by temperature. It may turn better
after the engine is warm.
With the engine running, push down on the adjusting screw. It may start to turn. And that takes us
back to adjusting the clearance.

Also, there is a lot of slop in the rocker arm assembly (side to side movement).  When assembling the engine
and trying to center the rocker arm on the valve, if the push rods are not straight up and down, it will effect it.

Then there is the polish (or lack of) on the tappet where it meets the cam lobe. If you haven't taken
the tappet out and examined it, you should. It could be rough machining on the side of it causing it to bind.
Or it could be you need to put the tappet in a lathe and clean up the surface that rides the cam. Mine looked
like it had been cut with a garden rake. The side view looked sort of like---MMMMMM.


Ralph

[fabricator]

Well here's another update, she's making power and heating water now, although there is still no real load because my main inverter is out of service right now, but it's charging 16, 12 volt batteries.

[fabricator]

It was off over night, when I got home tonight it was leaking water out of every gasketed surface on the engine, so I torqued everything down good and no joy everything still leaks, water is even coming out of top of the big stud that holds the rocker assembly on.
Water was dripping out of the flex pipe I have on the exhaust, literally every where there is a gasket on the water jacket.

[Carlb]

Are you running this system pressurized?  Also that copper tubing will work harden and fail in short order.  Head gasket leaks are not uncommon on roids, do a search and you will find many threads on this subject.  I think Gaskets to Go is where i got the gasket i have on my roid.

[fabricator]

0-5 psi, the copper will have brackets so the only thing that moves will be the flex hose.

[mbryner]

I had trouble with water around the stud at the rocker assembly too.   I just put a bunch of silicone around the stud and between the rocker assembly and the head.   No leak since.   As others said, do not pressurize the cooling system in a 'roid.

[bschwartz]

I found my intake tappet wouldn't rotate properly until I rotated the tappet guide.
Just loosen the hold down nut, and rotate the guide a little at a time till you get good rotation (easily done with the engine running.  Tighten the hold down nut, and watch your beautifully spinning tappet STOP....... loosen the nut again, and turn the guide a little more.  Tighten the nut again, and repeat until it rotates with the nut tight.  I strongly suggest you do the above after the engine is up to temperature, as the best position for rotation may be different when cold.

[fabricator]

What exactly is the reason they rotate anyway? Just so they wear evenly?

[SHIPCHIEF]

Yes on the tappet rotation question, they last longer.
About water leaks:

I noticed that the 4 big cylinder studs were dripping water into the oil when I did my major tear down.
I discovered it when George warned me to change out the cam idler gear. I had 7 running hours on the engine.
The block is thru threaded for the studs, but not sealed. The studs pass thru the water jacket of the liner. I used water pump gasket sealer on them when I put the engine back together.

[XYZER]

I found my intake tappet wouldn't rotate properly until I rotated the tappet guide.

Yep! After many warnings of lifter QC issues the first thing I did was resurface the tappet face due to lack of a good surface thinking that would do it.....not! I loosened the clamp just enough that I could rotate the guide while it was running. Then I could find the sweet rotation spot. BUT...when you tighten the clamp it may change the amount of rotation. Just try again. I also found the mushy gasket they had would squish on one side and cause more tip in the guide. Don't overtighten the clamp it will deform and put preasure on the inside edge causing more tilt. I made several of these clamps that will not deform and keep the presure on centerline.

[fabricator]

Yeah I got that all straightened out everything rotates great now.