Technical Funky Falcon thingamabob question

I happened to see a "fresh set" '61 Falcon on a local DIY junkyard website, so I had to check it out. I was hoping I'd find one of those center consoles. Nope.

Question: What's that thingamabob on the valve cover? It goes from what looks to be an engine oil fitting. Is it a high-tech top-end engine pre-oiler?

 

It looks like some kind of oil "mister" to me.

Did these motors have problems oiling the back valve train ?

...

 

I'd fix it (if it was cheap enough).

 

Yeah, looks like the same sort of lash-up you'd find on Y-blocks. These do have shaft-mounted rockers but I've never seen this done on one. Maybe @gimpyshotrods can shed some light on this...

 

Oil drain holes plugging was a Ford feature late '50s up ... Falcons rattled a lot louder than 272 -292s when plugged

 

Looks like an adaptation to oil the rocker arms thru the rocker shaft. As others say, Y block V8s had a problem with head oiling but haven't seen this on the six before.

 

Falcons had a problem with sludge build up which limited the flow of oil to the valve train. In the late sixties a friend at work had this issue. Hot Rod magazine had a tip in it regarding the problem and as I recall I pulled a head bolt and ground a relief in it to get more flow. It worked

 

Yep, the old overhead oiler! Some folks back then used non detergent oil and sometimes did not change their oil and often ran cold or no thermostats. All had a hand in clogging up oil lines .




Bones

 

The others beat me to it.

 

Old Speedo cable to passages may help , may not

 

I did a little digging, this link shows I didn't remember everything https://fordsix.com/threads/rocker-arm-shaft-oiling-hints.29111/

 

sgtlethargic, are you looking for a Falcon center console? My brother has one he will never use.

 

I appreciate you asking. I have one for my Ranchero, and maybe another. If I come across one in a junkyard (especially a DIY yard), I might buy another.