I put in a very mild re-grind cam about a year ago, was told I wouldn't need shims.. but as soon as I installed it the lifters started ticking.

I ignored it until now & I decided it was time to shim it up.

The shims were too big and the rockers were too tight causing terrible driving as the valves were probably not closing properly. (still ticking)

Removed extra shims and tried washers half the size.. same result.

Removed washers and put back to normal.. Bled the HLA's as suggested and tried some CRC lifter free stuff.. no help. New oil change with 15w20 Pennzoil. Good driving resumed but noise still there.

New HLA's are really expensive.. & it's impossible to find out which one is making all the noise without a testing device.. Can anyone suggest anything? I'm sick of the rattle! I'm thinking of either putting a std cam back in.. or swapping all the rocker gear over from another engine and see if that helps..

swap rocker gear over from a set from wreckers if you havent got any laying around.
where did the cam come from?
if its a wade cam you should be running a 2nd set of shims the same size as your current ones.


unless you get a billet you NEED shims.

its a kelford camtech re-grind, I'm in NZ. My friend works there and he said I won't need any. The washers I tried were pretty thin and even they were too tight..

wierd. being a regrind you would need shims because it would then have less lift than a standard cam and give worse performance.

well.. no because the HLA's make up a degree of difference. I just got off the phone to Kelfords and they said you have a couple of mm to play with before needing shims. They said only 2 of their customers have needed to shim this grind.

is there anything else that could be making all the noise? Worn rockers perhaps? A worn out lifter? They all looked ok when I bled them..

i was under the impression that when you pull the rocker gear off and the hlas fell out the rubbers where stuffed so that might help a little

it could be damaged lifters or rockers, use a small piece of hose and listen to each one, similar to a stethoscope. bleeding the rockers should have fixed this though. if your gonna go to the wreckers get a full rocker pedestal off an EA 3.9, they are bigger than later models. make sure all your lifters have the little seal still on them when you put them back in, lastly it s a falcon, they generally have a soft tick in the top end from the lifters, as long as its not stupidly loud it should be non damaging