now got both heads of and can feel a slight lip on most of the liners. best measurement i could get using verniers as depth gauge was 0.5mm. how much can they move? i would have thought 0.5mm would have disappeared once warm and expanded? cheers nick

Yeah ive seen that before, may be an option. Im going to view another p38 today which has spat a bit of headgasket out. May use my already skimmed heads and repair that. Depends on condition. If not will do that with my engine. Nick

A bit of an update, narrowed down to be the nearside bank causing the noise. Went for a 30 mile run around and still the same. Swapped lifters on that bank. Noise still there once warm! Now got the head of that same side. I can feel with my fingernail a lip between liner and block in middle...

Thats reassuring, do you think i will get away with taking them out and cleaning them out? I do have a couple of spares. Nick

took a quick video tonight of the noise once its warmed up to temperature. remember this only happens when hot. its silent when cold. cheers nick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ1c7mzCIcU

Well i bought it outside of ebay. It was listed on there but did a cash collected deal. I guess its time to stop guessing and get stuck in at the weekend. Nick

Good job its a family motor, shame its not a paid job however but nevermind! I bought all the bits from island 4x4 and ordered the britpart gasket set. Which are composite i believe. Probably opened a can of worms now around part quality however taking into consideration the value of the car...

it does exactly as you describe, as soon as its hot it starts. dont know what to do for the best if it turns out that is the case i have to admit cheers nick

Hi, cant remember whether it was 2 or 20 thou that was skimmed from them it was a couple of weeks ago. will check what it was. cant see why a new cam would be needed. although if the one that came with the engine is more worn than my original one then i can understand it. it still has original...

Yeah i do need to try narrow it down. Will try having a listen with a stethoscope tomorrow, got one at work i can borrow. i did have a few spare tappets that came with the engine but not a full set. they are fairly easy to get apart and clean out. bearing this in mind what would you do next? i...

No i didnt measure them. Wasnt a case of throwing it together ive rebuilt many engines but i havent worked on one of these prior to this one. Also why should it only happen once its hot. When cold its quiet as a mouse and runs perfectly. Valve clearences are there to allow for expansion as...

Lol!

It isnt a new cam though its the one that came with the engine bought. Surely the lifters should account for the difference in wear between them? Nick

Thanks for your reply, the lifters and pushrods and rockers are all the original ones. Admittedly i didnt do anything with the lifters when i should have done! However the car did still run before i stripped it just had heavy bottom end knock which was the big ends on the back two cylinders. I...

Hello, I have recently rebuilt my dads 4.0 gems p38 engine. It appeared to have either ran out of oil or lost pressure as it wrecked the bottom end. Span the mains and the big ends were pretty much non existant. So new block needed. Bought a second hand block with crank cam and pistons in...