302 has ticking noise could it be stuck lifter?

I have a 72grabber 302 I bought from a widow whos deceased husband built this mav back in the early 90,s car has sit a lot the last 3 yrs when I bought it ,ive got the engine running with a carb rebuild andchanged the oil and filter using wix filter and Castrol 10w40 oil .the oil pressure cold is around 45 but drops down to around 25 when warm and there is a tick insid ethe engine.ive removed both valve covers and checked to see if a rocker was loose noe seemed to be ,I got a lot of paper work from the cars engine build and found the cam #,s to be a blueracer 292 intake 292 exh.@50 228 -228 512 lift has good springs but he didn't do screw in studs to iron 77 heads. the tick doesn't get louder but concerns me any help or input thanks guys

 

I assume it's a flat tappet set up, does it tick when it's cold before oil pressure drops?

 

yes it ticks when 1t starts cold and yes its a flat-tappet cam,would the lifter being bad caus elower oil pressure assuming that it is a lifter that's making the noise

 

I don't think one lifter being bad would cause a drop like that especially since it happens when it's warm, however we went through this with the car when we bought it as the fellow had just rebuilt the motor and evidently didn't break in the cam right, wiped out the lifter and I kept adjusting it and it would come right back, I would isolate exactely where that ticking is coming from by adjusting those valves and/or get a engine stethescope......sitting that long, do you know how many miles he had put on the rebuild?

 

also verify your getting oil to the top of every rocker through the pushrods

 

What rockers are on those 77 heads. Are they pedestal mount or do they have studs ? More'n likely it's a sticky lifter plunger but with a flat tappet cam you never know. Run a can of something like Marvel mystery oil though the crankcase and see if the ticking goes away. If it persists, then start looking for something more serious.

 

the heads have push-in studs ,with the valve covers off I did check for oil coming thru and everything checked to be good.oil shot all over the place !could the oil gauge be wrong cause sometimes it doesn't move up at all until I thump on it with my finger.i don't know ho wmuch running time is on the engine. the wife said all he did was drive it down the road and do a burn out and I do know it sat 2 yrs after he passed away and was started up a few days before I drove up to take a look at the car.i havvent done a lot to the car sinc eive had it been workin gon my 70 mav and now im ready to get this grabber road ready.i guess I ll find something to add to the oil that might help with sticky lifters and go from there thanks guys for ur help

 

Look across the tops of the studs to see if they're all a uniform height, if not then it's possible they're working loose from the more aggressive motion of the rockers from the bigger cam.

 

that thought has crossed my mind about the studs working loose. would the rockers be making noise if this were the problem? if so mine aren't making any sound,the ticking seems more like its further down toward the lifter area

 

Put a straight edge across the tops of the studs to see if one sticks up farther than the others.

 

Another possibility if you are running a mechanical fuel pump is a weak or broken diaphragm spring.

 

Probably a sticky lifter plunger then.

 

cant really tell exactly where the nois eis coming from ! could it be a main bearing making this noise also?

 

it could be that or a number of other things...

 

Main bearings make a thunking rumble low in the engine, rod bearings more of a clack but still obviously not in top of engine... A loose wrist pin can make a noise similar to a valve but again not in upper area of engine... A wrong(big block) or defective fuel pump will make a clacking noise similar to a valve... To confirm pump start engine and run for a minute or two, remove pump and restart, will run for 10-20 seconds on fuel in carb bowl...

If noise isn't noticeably louder with valve covers off probably isn't a valve... Also you can disconnect one spark plug at a time and see if noise changes, if so problem is almost defiantly in the rotating assembly, a valve won't care if cylinder is firing or not...