Valve Train Question (Chattering)
 

Ok, I have notice some extra valve train noise lately and was wondering if I need to adjust my rocker arms. The engine is a 383 and my rocker arm set up looks like the picture below with the red bar across the top of the rockers. Mine is gold, but the same bar. The picture below is not of my engine, just a picture I found on the net that had that bar. This may be a newb question, but what is that bar for? Does that mean I have adjustable rocker arms? I do not know what type of cam or lifters are in the engine. I bought the car like this from a guy that did not know either. Also, when I had the car out yesterday and took it for a spin when I got home and popped the hood while the engine was running I noticed a little smoke coming out of the breather cap on the side that has the most chatter. Don't know if this is ok or not or if it could be indicative of an issue. This is my first carbed engine so any helping in learning about this would be fantastic.

EDIT: I added the last three pictures of my engine and did the test that 1927BB427 suggested with the hammer and was not able to compress the lifter at all. So that must mean I have solid lifters. I drove the car around for a while yesterday and it drives fine etc. but there is just a bit more valve train noise from the driver side of the engine than the passenger side. I'm probably being overly cuatious, but I just like to make sure everything is right because I can't really afford for the engine to get screwed up over something that could have been avoided.


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Ok, so I have figured out that this is a stud girdle. Don't know anything else yet.

The bar is a brace for the rocker arm studs. It prevents flexing and possible breaking of the rocker arm studs and mounting pedestals. The picture shows adjustable roller rocker arms. It is important that the rockers be adjusted properly for proper engine performance and longevity. However, depending if you have hydraulic or solid lifters, the adjusting procedure will differ. Being that stud braces were installed, I would suspect that a fairly high lift cam was installed and that the valve springs are much stiffer than stock. If that is the case, then there always be a certain amount of noise coming from the valve train, due to harsh action of the cam. The smoke coming from the breather cap could be something of no consequence, such as moisture being boiled out of the crankcase, or something bad such as excessive blow by, PCV not functioning, or a bad gasket. It would be very helpful if you found the brand, type and specs of the camshaft used, as proper valve train adjustments depends on that information.

You can determine if you've got hydraulic or solid lifters pretty easily. If you pull a valve cover and use the end of a hammer handle to push down on the rocker arm it will compress a hydraulic lifter a little, but wont move a solid lifter at all. Push down on the end of the arm that's closest to the intake manifold where the pushrod is seated.
If they are hydraulic, then the procedure is the same for any hydraulic, but if they're solids you need to know the cam specs to know what clearances the rockers are adjusted to. I personally go zero lash on my hydraulics, but most specs say zero plus 1/4-1/2 turn.

Thanks for the help so far guys. I'll pull a valve cover this weekend and check like you mentioned 1971BB427. I'll snap a picture too and post it up.

Pictures added to the first post of my engine.