I have a 66' malibu el camino with a 283 sbc and a powerglide transmission! I have bee noticing a ticking noise on the motor and it miss kind at a rhythm. I took the valve covers off and noticed pieces of metal right by the front of the motor on the head. It is where the #1 piston is. Some of them have kind of a rounded off shape to them. I dont see anything wrong with the springs. but its dark and i cant really see. I also noticed on the even side 2/4/6/8 some of the rocker arms are loose? Some may be loose on the odd side too. not sure, i didnt check them. I found them right where the hole is where im guessing where the oil comes in. What do yall think? It idles kind of rough and i have noticed a loss of power? do i have broken valve springs or something? Thanks for the answers!!!!
on the valve stem you have 2 keepers, they are small and curved and it could be one of them ! someone worked on that engine before you and either did not put both keepers in or one popped out !
do you know if you have a siloit cam or hydric cam .if soliet can need to adjust vale lash .and if popping back through carbator have wipe cam you need check by local shop . had to tell from your info
Check your push rods. They may be worn, and maybe the tip of one may have broken off from wear. Its has happened with me on older small block chevy engines, especially with high milage.
my first guess is that are the valve keepers , little pieces of curved metal that keep the springs compressed on the valve stem. there are 2 per valve stem.. if the eng was over rev-ed, the valves can float and let go of the keepers. one keeper could stay in place and still hold the valve. if this is the case , you could drop a valve at any time and hole a piston. or it could be the end of one of the springs. or even a broken valve guide .From what you said and the eng missing on one cylinder i would be reluctant to run the eng until you found out. or the rounded shape could be the top of a push rod that is broken off , they are dome shaped. You can look at the keepers and the push rods by loosening the rockers so you can turn them aside to view the keepers . at the top of the valve stem to make sure they are all in place. as well a look at the push rods. So loosen all the rockers and see what you find. if you need more info about how it all works . you can find videos on youtube . like how to adjust valves on V 8 eng and how to replace Valve springs push rod replace rocker arms stuff like that and you find videos that will show you the keepers , valve guides etc. you can looosen the and remove the rocker arms without anything coming apart , so you dont have to worry about that. i guess we know what you will be doing this weekend , haha
