Ok, so I am resurrecting a '57 Ranchero for a friend. I got it running but two front cylinders were dead. It has good spark, plugs and wires. Checked compression in both with a result of nothing. Pulled valve covers and both cylinders had a pushrod missing. A third cylinder had one that was leaning beside the rocker. I have never dealt with a solid lift before this but my guess is that the clearance became so much that they came off and disappeared into the valley of what could become death at this point. Any other thoughts as to why this would happen. Also need some tips on setting the lash. Thanks all you crazy hotrodders.
dropping pushrod in a y-block is nothing new. happens frequently as they are margiinal at best. Did you look down to see if they are still in the heads and just wedged down there. usually will not angle enough to end up in the rocker valley. If they are not still stuck in the heads I would be really worriedwhere they got to. Do you have the later style tubular pushrods or the early thin forged ones? I doubt the tubulars can be even forced through the heds and looseinside of the engine. Adjustment is to zero lash minus a quarter turnor about 17-19 thousandths. Good luck. MIKE
Thanks for the tips. They are the tubular ones. The pushrods are not visible in the heads. You can see all the way to the lifter. The one that was leaning fell down when I was moving it but it did not go all the way down. I think I'll pull the intake and valley cover just to be 100% sure.
I bought a '57 wagon with 312 that had the same condition. This problem can be caused by weak valve springs & over revving. The cup for the pushrod seat is not as deep as it should be. Pat
This happens in cars/trucks that have sat a long time and have bad gas. Varnish gets on the valves, they stick momentarily and the push rod drops off. In a Y they wont go any farther than the valley, if you're lucky you can fish them out through the hole they fell through with a magnet. Y-Blocks are not "marginal" old fuel is.
That is a normal thing for the Y block to drop push rods. Remove the intake and valley pan and you will find your missing push rods. I always set the lash at .018 hot and just make sure you got plenty of oil coming out of the front and rear oil tubes in the rocker stands. When I had a bent one I just put in in the vise and did what any normal teen would do and straighten it out without problems. When pay day came along I would buy some spares so I wouldnt have to tear down very often to retrive them. Usualy to much rpm or set to loose was the culprit.
It does have some very bad gas for sure. I caught some out of the fuel pump and it is very dark. So this very well could have happened. Thanks. Bye the way I love your LSR truck.
I know a guy that bought a mid '50's merc. and it was missing 2 push rods. he was sure someone took them out ! he put new ones in and drives it.
Well I managed to retrieve all the missing pushrods and found my answer as to why they went missing also. They were all bent. So I checked the rest and found a total of 6 bent. One was pretty bad. So why would this happen?
I'm with Tim here,Y -Blocks are definatley not "marginal" Only 211 days to Speed week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you have the solid pushrods and they are bent, lay them on a flat surface and hammer them straight. The factory setting is .019. At .018 they stay in longer at high RPMs. Make sure you get plenty of oil at both ends of the rocker shafts. Nothing sounds as good as a Y block at 7,000
Check to make sure the rocker arms can spin freely on their shaft, I had one that kept dropping/bending a pushrod... the arm was SUPER tight and binding on the shaft. Pulled the rocker ***y apart, cleaned everything up, fit a new arm and it never did it again.
They are solid pushrods. I do have a question about one that the cupped end is loose. You can actually take the cup off the pushrod. Is there a fix or just spend the 3.50 for a new one?
Send me a PM if you like. If your problem can be fixed with just replacing push rods I can send you a set (of stock ones). I always replace them with tube type. Elgin PR-71 or 71s.
Tim, I dont know about that,but we will have fun thats for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think i saw a post here somewhere that you are going to the GNRS, I will be there,we will have to get together & talk Y's. Keith
Got the pushrods back in and valve lash set. Hit the key and it fired right up and runs very smooth. I'm beginning to like this thing.
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