1973 225 valve adjustment help!please!

73AbodEE said
now i can hear a slight knock coming from the engine that i couldnt hear before over the loud valve noise...real bummer. how long will a slant six run with a knock before it explodes, given that it has 10/40 pure synthetic oil and doesnt get driven over 65 miles per hour? anyone know????

Don't worry too hard yet. You might just be hearing harmless fuel pump knock. Does it get louder at higher engine speed, or does it stay "slight"? Use a wooden dowel (cut-off broom handle, for example) to try and narrow in on where the knock is coming from. Put one end on a hard surface near where you want to check (on or near the fuel pump, for example) and jam the other end in your ear. Move the non-ear end of the dowel around and once you get the hang of listening to what you're hearing, you will detect the knock grow more pronounced as you move closer to its source. If this narrows in on the front of the engine near the fuel pump, definitive diagnosis can be done quickly and easily by completely blocking off the fuel pump outlet by whatever means is convenient, and then running the engine to see if the knock disappears. If so, it's the fuel pump and you needn't worry about it.

If not, further diagnosis will be required. Rod knocks do not go away on their own. It will also be a good idea to service the oil pressure relief valve to make sure it's doing its job, as described in these two threads: thread 1, thread 2.