When I cold start my car, I get a bad rattling of what I'm guessing to be the valves/lifters. This only lasts about 5-10 seconds then goes away.

This only happens if the auto choke is working.

Gary
'69 Special 350 2bl

To better isolate the noise yourself, you should take a 3 foot prybar or something similar made of steel and hold it up to a cylinder head or the engine block and put the other end up to your ear.
The closer the prybar is to the source of noise, the louder and clearer the noise will become.
Since this symptom only lasts for a short time, you should have an assistant start the car for you.
I would suspect that since this only happens when the auto choke is on, that this is not an internal engine problem, otherwise it would occur much more often. Perhaps there's a loose part rattling around or not secured properly?

Good luck!!

Ben

Thanks. I'll try that. My initial guess is that the oil pump could not deliver oil up to valves quick enough for a cold fast idle choke process.

What is/are the symtoms of a oil pump not operating properly?

Symptoms for that will all depend on how worn out your oil pump is. If the pump is just aged then you'll notice noise just on cold startup. As it gets worse, you'll notice banging or clicking noise at idle almost all the time. If it gets much past that point you're looking at heavier repairs than just a new oil pump.

If i were you, I'd find the cause of this noise and nip this problem in the bud ASAP!!!

Where are you in Massachusetts?

I own 2 '69 Specials, and know how they are supposed to sound- if you want, shoot me an email at bobc@gnttype.org let me know where you are.

-Bob Cunningham