1 hour ago, siteunseen said:

Slow down. You need to read up a lot more. You can remove a rocker with a big screwdriver  leaving the valve and spring in place. Pry the spring retainer down with the screwdriver against the cam. Move the rocker off the lash pad, remove the mouse trap spring and the rocker is free.

That's how I learned to do it. But when I found the compressor tool tailor made for L series heads, I snagged it and never went back.

2 hours ago, Zed Head said:

You can see the wear pad without removing the rocker arm.  

Everything but the very middle of the wipe area, which I've seen some deep wear before.

But comparing the overall position of the pattern for sure, is easily seen looking at the right and left sides of the valvetrain.

Here’s the other side. I just changed my oil recently but it’s been run pretty hard with it.

2 hours ago, RMin280 said:

Nevermind, I think I was able to find it. Is it a L series valve compressor? Would I also need to support the valve some way to prevent it from falling down or do the keepers stay in place?

As long as the valve isn't prevented from being pushed open, the keepers will stay put. Assure the piston isn't close to TDC, so the valve won't hit it. 

You're only pushing the valve far enough to get extra room to lift it out. That's why I suggested positioning the cam near the base circle.the valve is nearly fully closed, so it is easier to compress the spring.

If you try to remove the follower when the cam lobe is near full lift of the valve, the spring(s) are nearing full compression, so you don't get much room to compress further, and the spring requires more effort to push it further.

 

Do I still need to remove the rockers or is looking at both sides good enough to now?

12 minutes ago, RMin280 said:

Here’s the other side. I just changed my oil recently but it’s been run pretty hard with it.

It isn't easy to see, but it looks like the wipe pattern is close to the edge. You don't want the cam lobe to wipe off of the pad, which is hardened steel, as is the tip that rides on the lash pad which sits on the valvestem. The rest of the follower is (I think) forged steel, but not hardened like the pads. It won't be happy wiping the cam lobe, and both will wear out very quickly.

You've mentioned the PO has done some work to this engine. I know that to "cheat" the follower ratio and gain more lift, the geometry can be adjusted towards the pivot, effectively changing the ratio of how long the side that pushes the valve is to the length of the side that pivots.

 

I'd also be interested in seeing the rest of the valvetrain, for all the valves and cam lobes. The ones you have shown so far don't look bad, but I wonder why they don't look shiny.

 

Edited October 17, 20222 yr by Racer X

4 minutes ago, RMin280 said:

Do I still need to remove the rockers or is looking at both sides good enough to now?

If you wanted to try the screwdriver method, it wouldn't hurt to have a look at one, and share what you find.

Again, I'd like a look at the rest of the valvetrain.

 

A cam lobe that's dropping off of the edge of the wear pad could be the cause of the noise you're hearing.  The pattern is definitely "wrong", out of spec., but as RacerX said some people do it on purpose to gain a bit more valve lift.

Overall though, the odds seem good that you'd be better off with the proper lash pads to get the wear pattern centered.  

The three that you showed seem very close, the middle one might even be the noisemaker.

I was looking at that valve and noticed that lash pad seems a little displaced. Could this pad shifting cause the cam to fall off? It only seems to be off by a little bit. 

That's not good.  Can you get a shot from the side to see if it's up on top of the edge of the lash pad.  Might be that you actually have a very loose rocker arm.

The end of the rocker arm should sit between the two ears.  Can't tell which one you're looking at.

 

I’m looking at cylinder 4 intake, second lobe back from the middle cam tower. It’s the same one y’all said might be the one falling off of the wear pad. What exactly do you want a picture of? I want to make sure to be able to show you want you need to see. 

This angle of the one that you think is off-center.