Cracking a Tappet Can Lead to Magic & Joy
NOTE: This post may not interest anyone who knows or cares nothing about scarce and fabled engine parts.…
A few weeks ago, the motor started missing on #1 cylinder suddenly. After swapping plugs around, etc., it was clear that Charlotte needed a visit to the hospital E.R. On her arrival the next day, diagnosis showed that there was a valve-train problem. Unfortunately, a bent pushrod (easy to replace) was not the issue.
That only left… AARGH… the tappets. Further stripping down showed that one of the tappets ("lifters" in American Car-English) was cracked in half (the missing half probably sitting in the sump [oil pan], having worked its way past the camshaft somehow). Only thing to do was to replace it— and while we're at it, replace all the tappets.
Before we get to the punchline in this story, I need to ask the readers who own old sports cars: how many of you have a skilled mechanic who (1) if called on a Monday morning will tell you to bring the car in immediately; (2) will make room in his schedule to do a full tappet set replacement immediately (as in, right then and there), and (3) will happen to have in stock a tappet set for a B-series motor (18V) sitting around?
Well, two out of three ain't bad.
Charlotte was in the bay, on the lift, and the side covers were off the block (without having to remove the exhaust header, I might add). Now time to rummage in the parts bin. Oh dear: surprise, surprise, no set of lifters. So it looks like Charlotte is going nowhere. No parts, no fix.
Now here is where the "magic" comes in. I had always joked that my mechanic Steve could pull parts out of a hat like a rabbit, having seen it happen a number of times. Not "this-will-get-you-on-the-road-temporarily" used parts, but brand-new OEM stuff, seemingly out of thin air. However, Steve does not do major engine rebuilds on the premises, and so I was not optimistic that he would have the specific tappet set needed just lying around.
Oh, Ye of Little Faith, behold and marvel. Reaching deep behind boxes stacked on a dusty shelf, Mr. Mackay rummages around and retrieves… a small box. "I was saving these", he says mournfully (but with a twinkle in his eye).
And now here is the "Joy" part of this story.
Yes, you're looking an original box containing NOS (new old stock) Isky competition lifters from the fabled shop in Gardena, California, so prized by racers in the 1960s. Having gone out of business many years ago, Ed Iskendarian valve train parts are impossible to get. And highly prized. And now, it seems, going into Charlotte's motor.
I won't say what they cost me, but I will say that Charlotte doesn't know just how fortunate she is.
