65 BBC top end problem

[BB Al]

Hey guys. New to the site here .
Havin a heck of a time with this 65 396 .
Figured I'd give it a shot here and see if I can get some suggestions to find the shortest route from point A to B here.

65 BBC .030 over , stock heads milled .030. Isky hydraulic flat tapoet came to me in a 66 caprice in 03.
Engine ran strong
Got into a wreck with the car in maybe 05 and totaled the body/ bad frame damage .engine still ran great and car would actually still drive but definitely not on the street . One of my crazy dirt track buddies was slinging it around out bsck behind my place and over reved it .
I think a spring broke in one 9f the heads (Lotta water under the bridge since so can't remember certainly)
I.found another 66 caprice and bought it because I liked the first one but it cane with a late 70's 350 in it so I figured I'd put the 65 396 in it .

Pulled the motor out and sent the heads to a reputable shop where they completely rebuilt them. Block was also gone through , cylinders honed, new cam bearings etc. The block was done by a different guy than the guy who did the heads . I bought an isky 270 mega cam from the guy who did the heads ..he mentioned several times
That the 65 block needed a unique bearing on the rear cam journal. The bearing also has a groove and 3 holes which needed be aligned with holes in the bearing saddle. The guy who was doin the block was already aware of that and did it right .
Then the camshaft when using the 65 block needs a groove machined in it . Well after all the squaking from the guy who did the heads about how the block should be done he hands me the new camshaft without machining the dam thing . Not being aware that it needed the groove we put the motor together and what do you know?? We couldn't get oil to the top of the motor before start up . Then I call the block guy and he says he absolutely set it up right for the 65 block .
Called the guy who did the heads and he pointed the finger back at the guy who did the block (which btw he had to know what the problem was but knew the motor was together and didn't want to fess up ) this was 2012 .
Then the motor just sat till like 2020 ...again.
Then I started digging in the weeds and thought I bet that cam doesn't have the groove in it . Yanked the motor pulled the cam an yep no groove .
.got the groove machined in the cam .
Then I had this local guy put everything back together.
Fired it up and got lifter noise . Rechecked the preload on the valves etc . Still clicking away.. then we pulled the intake again and a few of the liftes weren't sliding in and out of the bores like they should. Honed the bores , bought new lifters just to eliminate the possibility of one or more of those being bad. Put it all back together again and still have lifter noise. It hasn't run long but it has run so now I'm wondering if the lobes aren't wiped..
.any suggestions about what to do prior to taking it all apart again that might solve the problem would be greatly appreciated.
Sorry for the story book but I figured the more info I provided the better

[V12MECH]

If distributor is also '65 or '66 it only has a partial oil relief groove and has to be "clocked" installed correctly, or oil flow is restricted to lifters, goggle it tons of information, if newer distributor, has oil groove completely around lower portion of body, about an inch above gear. If partial groove, you can grind complete groove carefully.

[BB Al]

Well thank you . Very interesting and informative.
Never heard this one ! What a break that would be !
I do have a newer style distributor in there however I'm unsure if it has a partial or complete groove in it .
I'm now hoping that it doesn't.
If that's the case would the remainder of the groove need to be machined in it or ?

[rgalajda]

1965-67 GROOVED CAMSHAFT, 1965-67 GROOVED CAM BEARING, 1967 & UP GROOVED BLOCK

[rgalajda]

OBVIOUSLY if you want too test you manually prime the oil pump ,if you get decent oil flow volume at all the rockers, priming the engine oil pump manually, then obviously the oil flow leaving the pump reaches the intended areas

1965-67 engines, require the early rear cam bearing with the three hole aligned correctly and the grooved rear cam journal.

’65-’66 Big-Block Lifter Gallery Oiling: In order to feed pressurized oil to the galleries that feed the lifters, the ’65-’66 big-blocks used a combination of a groove in the rear cam journal and a rear cam bearing with a matching groove on its inside diameter.
Oil entered the bearing through a hole at the bottom, ( see picture above ) traveled around the journal through the groove in the bearing and the journal, and exited the bearing through two holes at the top that aligned with two holes in the block; those two holes fed the oil galleries on each side that fed the lifters.
Both the cam journal and the cam bearing MUST have the groove in order to provide adequate oil flow to the lifters, and the bearing must have the two exit holes at the top.

’67-Up Big-Block Lifter Gallery Oiling: Starting in 1967, Chevrolet redesigned the oiling path to the lifter galleries. The groove was removed from both the rear cam journal AND from the I.D. of the rear cam bearing, and an annular groove was machined into the rear cam bearing bore in the block instead. With the smooth rear journal and cam bearing surfaces, oil entered the bearing through the same hole in the bottom, but part of it flowed around the outside diameter of the cam bearing, through the groove machined in the bearing bore, and exited through the same two holes in the block at the top that fed the lifter galleries. The cam bearing now had only one hole, at the bottom.

Oil gallery plugs inserted too deep can block cross feed passages to the oil galleries on each side that feed the lifters.

[V12MECH]

Do the oil pump prime with priming tool and drill, run drill c/w and check flow at rockers , only old oem distributor had partial relief. I have heard of a couple cases of cheap imported distributor's having too shallow or miss positioned oil groove, flow test will first place to start.If spring pressure is about stock you might have dodged a bullet on wiping a lobe .

[BB Al]

Good info . Thanks alot . I'm gonna delve into it soon .
Might need more pointers though .
Any suggestions of a good name for and oil pump primer tool . I was about ready to buy a "speedmaster " one and then saw a review that stated shaft is too long etc "junk" according to this guy .

[V12MECH]

Summit has a good one , check catalog, or make one out of old distributor ,goggle how to,faster than I could explain it. Use drill with 1/2" Chuck.

[BillK]

BB,
Are you certain it is "lifter" noise ?? Pull one of the valve covers. How much oil is in the head ? What rocker arms ?

Did you have oil pressure when it was running ? If you did then I am not sure what the preoiler is going to show you. Just pull a valve cover and start it. It will make a little bit of a mess but it will be a lot more realistic test.

[Dave Koehler]

If distributor is also '65 or '66 it only has a partial oil relief groove and has to be "clocked" installed correctly, or oil flow is restricted to lifters, goggle it tons of information, if newer distributor, has oil groove completely around lower portion of body, about an inch above gear. If partial groove, you can grind complete groove carefully.

And it is easy to know when it is clocked wrong. It shuts off the oil to the passenger side. Been there, got the T shirt.
How does it get clocked wrong? The owner didn't get it in there correctly and just moved the plug wires around the cap to get that part working.
The cast iron dist. base in Corvettes had the 1/2 circle groove.

[V12MECH]

If you have determined it is a ticking lifters and want to observe oil flow with valve covers off and engine running, might as well do the 1/2 turn additional past zero lash( back off nut until ticks, tighten to quiet point). Add the 1/2 turn and see how it goes, by the way, is this just a stock or mild hi-po deal ?

[V12MECH]

O.k. reread your post, post your findings when you sort it out.

[strokersix]

Could it be a rocker arm making the ticking sound?

I seem to recall a chevy BBC or maybe it was an inline six making a ticking sound that would come and go as the pushrod turned while running (I put a paint pen mark on pushrods to verify that they are spinning as a witness that the tappets are likely also spinning). Slight runout of the pushrod changed the rocker alignment as the pushrod turned which caused the ticking to come and go.

[BB Al]

Well I found my noises and it isn't coming from the top or not mostly from the top anyway. I finally exhausted/eliminated all possibilities with motor in the car so I pulled the motor. Pulled intake and Cam shaft in order to inspect Cam bearing alignment and more specifically that infamous rear one in the 65 block that needs the groove. Bearing had groove and holes are perfectly aligned with holes in block .
Pulled pan. There was a little sludge in there . Cleaned everything well . Checked all pushrods for clear.
Check .
Pulled an oil galley plug out of the back of the block .to see if anyone had installed reatictors for any reason.
Nope .
Checked lifter bores one had a slight edge on it . Cleared that .
Put it back together and primed the motor with drill primer tool . Got oil to to of all pushrods .
Then I was gonna run the motor on a stand before puttin it in the car . Motor sat on stand couple days. Had a leak near Timing Cover (good thing).
Pulled pan again and noticed pistons weren't clearing counter weights. .
There's my noise .
It's a 6223 forged crank that someone had balanced witj the pistons and rods that were in it.
I got new pistons WAY back when and the guy who put the motor together never saw that the pistons weren't clearing ???

[af2]

They are clearanced now... Add .050" to them and all is good....