So I removed the intake and heads('60 292) to do some cleaning and to check out the valves. also replaced both rocker arm shafts and 3 rockers that were galled badly. with the heads, off I cranked the engine and very little oil visible coming up thru the block. all passageways in heads and groove in block were wide open. ran a small rod down thru the block and contacted the cam brg. Filled oil passageways in the block with penetrating oil and let sit over night. blew air down thru the passageways and not much happened. repeated again and let it set overnight and repeated air and success. the air opened up both passageways and got oil flow cranking the engine. Reassembled the engine and started and have good oil flow into all rockers and out both overflow tubes. My question is, could I have too much flow out the overflow tubes. has a steady stream out both. Don't want to starve the cam brg. checked all my manuals and a Ford dealers manual and no info on how much flow should be expected. I could pinch the ends of the overflow tubes a bit to keep some pressure on the cam brgs and still have good lub on the rockers. anyone got any thoughts?
go to "Blocksforever.com" there are many threads on what to do with the rocker overflow tubes. Some say to plug them completely some say to leave them alone as the oil that comes out is needed to lube the dist. gear and the timing chain. I brazed up the ends and drilled a 1/16" hole in each of mine.
There are several videos on youtube about optional ways to handle your situation. Congrats, the good news is you have rescued another Y-block. With the good oil flow it's just a matter of which way you choose to go in my opinion. Both work.You won't starve any area mentioned in previous post, there's plenty of oil splashing around. You may have a worn cam bearing that is not providing adequate flow, in optimum circumstances but with that oil pressure it sounds good to go. Just keep an eye on the pressure gauge.
A properly oiling Y block will have a steady stream of oil out the overflow tubes. A lot of people modify things on the rocker stands or block the tubes. Once I got one oiling properly, I just drove it. Change the oil regularly and you won't have a problem. Although, it might be wise to drop the pan and see how much gunk is in the oil pickup screen. The stuff you cleared out went somewhere.
Sit down and listen carefully. What I am about to explain takes some understanding. When I built the 312 in my T-Bird I did not do anything with the cam. When I started it there was no oil coming out of one side to feed the rockers and very little on the other side. The oil to the rockers feeds from the cam bearings. The cam has grooves in it around which the oil has to flow to get up the feed drillings. In my case the cam bearings had worn. If you imagine the cam bearings wearing away the part where the groove is does not wear as nothing is touching it. Eventually the cam bearing material blocks the grooves. When I realised what had happened I replaced the cam bearings and that fixed the oiling problem for good. Hope this helps.
fordor41….. when I had my heads off I talked to Ted Eaton about exactly what you did to check oil to the rockers by using the starter motor. I used a golf tee and did each side separately and also together. My oil pressure is similar to yours with it being 40 idling hot. I kept the overflow tubes as I think a little flow is good. Every rocker arm shaft car I’ve ever had has an overflow and there always has been evidence of oil at top of the valves and the push rod cup. These are not hydraulic lifter hollow push rod engines needing a lot of oil on a ball socket. I believe you are just fine. Every other oil change I check the valve lash and always see oil on the shafts. With a cardboard deflector you can run the engine with a cover off and watch what is happening; Oil doesn’t shoot out or make mess at all. I use Lucas Hot Rod 10-30 oil and Wix filters and change once a year no matter the mileage which is usually 1200-1500 miles.
These engines were prone to the problem you had. Now, you've got it working properly, so leave it alone. There are two major reasons why these plug up. The use of nondetergent oil with infrequent oil changes. Spun cam bearing. New detergent oil with frequent oil and filter changes (i.e. every thousand miles) will keep them from plugging. Flow from the tubes is normal. Remember, oil does two things, it lubes and it also cools. Clean out the return (drain) holes in the heads, too. Reducing flow to the rockers can cause enhanced wear and galling. A lot of folks don't know about this one, so I'll put it out there: The lower crankcase breather has a filter in it. That is usually plugged up. It can increase pressure in the crankcase and cause moisture and sludge buildup. Sometimes the filter element is so carboned up it's impossible to clean it. A new element is needed and may be hard to find.
Remember too that cam bearings don't have nearly the lube requirements that main and rod bearings do. Their smaller bearing diameter means lower bearing speeds and the camshaft runs at half of the crankshaft RPM.
Pull the pan and check how much sludge is in there. My 239 had so much sludge I pulled out chunks with my hands.
I used a shop vac to remove any loose junk in the valley and the same while cleaning block deck and pistons
thanks for info guys. think I'm good to go. I checked under valve covers after a couple hundred miles and everything looked good.
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