Guess I need a girdle............

[1968Droptop]

No, I'm not talking about my waist:D. Yesterday on the lake I was running about 4K when I heard a loud pop. The engine seemed to be louder after the pop. Looked at the oil pressure, 30lbs., huh I thought. Looked at my temps, all was well. Looked at my boost/vacuum gauge, 1lb. of boost, huh I thought again, I'm usually running vacuum at this rpm. Tipped into the loud pedal just a little and saw 10lbs of boost, shit I thought.
I had an inkling what was up, as a buddy just had similar simptoms on his n/a engine. Popped the valve covers this morning, and I was right, broke #7 exhaust stud in half. I was told rocker stud girdles wouldn't hurt, but should be able to live w/o 'em. Looks like that is not the case:sqeyes:.

[Infomaniac]

How much lift and spring pressure?
I would make sure the basics are OK first. Alignmet clearances binding etc.

[1968Droptop]

Lift .721, I think around 230lbs of pressure.

[atxwrangler]

sorry to hear that,sounds like you might get out cheap.lesson learned!:idea:

[Blown 472]

Who's studs where you using?

[1968Droptop]

Yup, cheap lesson. It sure made the ol heart jump a beat, and opened up a large pit in my stomach :sqeyes:.
I'm using ARP's (all internal fasteners throughout are ARP studs). I didn't want to skimp anywhere on this build. Girdles were talked about, but I was told they were'nt manditory or I'd of got them from the getgo. Got 9.5 hours on it to date. Figure I'd better replace them all just to make sure.

[DMOORE]

Lift .721, I think around 230lbs of pressure.
Wow, that cams no joke. As they say, never stop learning. Good to hear no major damage.
Darrell.

[84 cougar]

I hope you get off easy.. (easier than most). But I would be a little concerned with only 30 lbs oil pressure at 4,000 RPM. A good rule of thumb is 10 lbs. oer 1000 RPM. Especially with only 10 hours. Webster makes a very nice Girdle. Good Luck. Steve

[Blown 472]

Yup, cheap lesson. It sure made the ol heart jump a beat, and opened up a large pit in my stomach :sqeyes:.
I'm using ARP's (all internal fasteners throughout are ARP studs). I didn't want to skimp anywhere on this build. Girdles were talked about, but I was told they were'nt manditory or I'd of got them from the getgo. Got 9.5 hours on it to date. Figure I'd better replace them all just to make sure.
Check out the clay smith studs, nice big radius on the bottom and life time warrenty.

[ck7684]

Is this a BBC? Shaft assemblies are coming down in price...might be the way to go...

[BrendellaJet]

I've got a set of crane shaft rockers on my BBC. Very nice set up and wasn't too spendy either. Was that or the Jesel Sportsmans, also pretty affordable.

[1968Droptop]

DMOORE; yeah the cam is a monster. I've never had anything like it. The thing really like to run in the upper rpm's.
84 cougar; It normally has 60lbs. of oil pressure. With one of the lifters not sitting tight on the cam, it lets the o/p bleed off.
Blown 472; thanks for the tip, I'll check 'em out. Clay Smith sure has some nice parts out there.
ck7684 & BrendellaJet: It's a BBF. I just now am starting to learn about the rail valve train. Now probably isn't the best time for me to do it. I was told even with solid lifters they only need adjusting once a year, and even then most, if not all, are still right on the $$$. Very trick set up for sure.

[LynnsJet]

What size studs do you have? Mark IV engines have 7/16" studs. Gen V & VI have 3/8". If you have the smaller studs you might want to consider having your heads drilled and tapped for 7/16".
just my .02

[1968Droptop]

What size studs do you have?
They're 7/16". I ordered a set of ARP's when I orderd my girdle. Might as well just replace them all.

[atxwrangler]

Droptop,guess what happened to me today!yep! ole number 7 rocker stud broke,oil pressure dropped to 15 lbs,after a loud pop the engine died and i was like wtf.brought it home and #7 rocker stud was broke and #7 exhaust had backed itself outabout 3/8" and came off the push rod.Ihave a few questions,,,DID YOURS BLOW THE INTAKEOR HEAD GASKET?WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO REMEDY THE PROBLEM?JUST INSTALLING NEW STUDS,AND RUNNING A LEAK DOWN,OR,PULLING HER DOWN TO THE INTAKE GASKET??

[atxwrangler]

we did a leakdown on 7 and 8 all good!duane and i are gonna take it down to the intake gasket and reassemble,got new studs and girdle ordered,we will loc tite them in there and torque to 55 lbs.should be back on the h2o in time for winter!l.o.l.:D

[1968Droptop]

I missed your question, H/B has been down for a couple of days for me. NO other problems found. I did not remove the head. The remidy was to replace all the studs and add a girdle from Comp Cams http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=CCA%2D4034&autoview=sku
So far so good. Everything seems to be staying where it should. Your engine is OK ? Note, when my buddies broke it didn't damage anything either.

[atxwrangler]

i haven't been able to connect to ***boat either ,especially during the day.i think all my stuff is good,my girdle and studs will be here tomorrow,i'm sure that will remedy the problem.i'll keep you informed.:eek:

[pw_Tony]

Actually over labor day weekend my father had a stud break. He's running a small cam, only around .520 lift, and it's a hydraulic.
It appeared just to be part failure from what I could tell.