Well its been a week since the last time I went for a spin. I had just put the rebuilt gen an put it in and forgot the dummy light wasn't hooked up and to much play on the belt so I stalled out bout 3blocks from home.After doing a few one block laps And the some 2block laps.bout an hours or so worth.AND I realised it didnt want to go over forty mph Anyway.Had to get pushed home.Good thing for bumper guards.But I Bent one. oh well I was gonna take em off anyways.So I Haven't gotten to straighten out the steering mounting yet.But I see it.Thanx guys I was alil lost there. Anyway it was running kinda rough back firing thru the carb here and there.SO i went out and fired it up today.And crank crank crank... Fires up and then tink tink tink....tink..tink UH WAH UH OH OH NO So i shut her down I knew there was a tiny tap on the VC I just thought the rockers just needed adjusting. NOPE one of the rods was down in the head .But it still runs Well anyway I'm not a mechanic.I'm mechanicly inclined..some but not certifiable in any way...so what should I do?.I know Im gonna have to pull it and turn it upside pull off the oil pan and look for the lifter.? right.? I mean is the motor done? ON its last leg ?or what ? This isnt gonna be easy is it either i know it.?! Well what I'm trying to say is. I like the car dont get me wrong. But I'm starting think its more like a parts car because of the roof rust and the gutter delete done by the last owners AND NOW this. BUT the floors are good the trunk is good, seats are decent dash is cleen new tail lights wiring harness and generator and hood hinges and decklid hinges too. Sorry i know i promised more pics but its been kinda cold out. ANYWAY I THINKING ABOUT SELLING IT and tryna get something a little more turn key.ANY opinions are deeply appreciated. I think I'm in over my head ANYWAY THANX Hope you all are enjoying the new year.
Is the engine a y-block? I have never worked on one (a y-block engine) before, but I'm pretty sure that the lifters can't fall out as they are held up by the camshaft. A push rod could come off the lifter however, and that sounds like what has happened to you. I circled a lifter in blue and a pushrod in green (there are 16 of each in an OHV engine, just not all shown below), not such a great picture (and stolen from another website)... If noone else here chimes in with help, the forum below should be able to: http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/default.aspx
First, don't panic and do something you might later regret...like selling your car. And Second, use your feminine wiles to get somebody who knows motors to come to your house (don't run the motor in its injured state) and look at it closely. There is more than one reason why a pushrod would recede into the head...none of them good, but some worse than others. Get the total picture, then decide what you're going to do about it. Good luck!
The good news is.....if its a Y-block, the loose pushrod can only fall down into the valley cover and stay there. Not much it could possibly injure - and experienced mechanics (way older than me) have told me that finding two or three pushrods under the valley cover of an old motor is just par for the course. My T-bird has one and I'm probably responsible for putting in there - but I just put in a new one and re-adjusted the valves. The orignal pushrods for the Y motors are very skinny solid round bar and will bend pretty quick if you have a sticky valve. Common to have sticky valves in an old motor with the icky no-lead gas they sell these days - it isn't enough of a solvent to melt the varnish. The "second generation" of Y motors had tubular push rods and those are the one's you'll want for a replacement. Get some valve cover gaskets (if you haven't already) and get some sort of "top cylinder" lubricant you can squirt or pour on each one of the valve stems. The last set of tubular pushrods I got came mailorder from "RockAuto" - but surely you can find someone with a single lying around. I have a bunch of the weak solid rod style stashed somewhere ...but no more of the tubular (that I can remember).
The Jalopy Journal
