Hot Rods SBF Help !!!

Hey guys..was running the ‘64 Comet with a 289 to a show yesterday and hit a stretch of road with some serious woop de doo’s in it and looked down and seen NO oil pressure, (no low oil pressure warning light). I shut it down and got towed.

Apparently The oil pump drive hex pulled out of the pump. Not being a Ford guy I didn’t know that there was supposed to be a clip on that drive hex to keep it from doing this. Found that clip in the bottom of the pan

Drained the oil and dropped the pan, oil seemed ok, some copperish color if stirred up but when I filtered through a paper towel and then paint filters I can’t see or fell anything that may be bearing material. Nothing shines if I hold a bright LED shop light up to the filters or paper towels.

I pulled a single connecting rod to check bearings but not sure if this is normal wear for a higher mileage 289 of if I have issues and should tear this thing down.

Any guidance is greatly appreciated

 

Looks good to me, in fact if that’s high mileage it looks really good.
Bolt it back together and away you go.
Trundling along at normal speeds you’d be amazed at how long bearings last with no oil pressure. It’s why they fed the valve train first on a lot of pushrod motors.

 

I'd tend to agree with Tim. Although the edge wear on that bearing isn't what I usually see, it speaks more of the way the crank was ground rather than the result of lack of oil. I'd have a look at the top half of the bearing though, before deciding since it gets more load at cruise. You may have gotten away ok!

 

The light gray showing is still the flash-plated break-in coating that is put on new Clevite P-series bearings,
Someone has been in there before, those aren't Ford issued bearings.
Is there an undersize marked on the backside of the bearing shell??

I'd check every rod, and the rear main as it is furthest from the pump....but if they all look similar to the one you've shown you'll be ok.

Agree with what Chicken posted.

 

What the oil pressure now ?
Any weird noise ?

does not look bad at all .

 

I'd be way more concerned as to why the drive came out. That clip is only there so that if you pull the distributor, you won't pull the drive up out of the pump. I wonder if the drive has been shortened or if the pump is seized and you twisted it off....

 

I also agree with chicken and Tim, peek at the upper rod half and if good roll on. Also agree with Steve, that clip does not hold the shaft in.

 

Thanks for the info! I’ll check each one and any the tops and see if everything is consistent with this first one.

I didn’t know if I could pull just the rear main and retorque it without doing it in a new assembly sequence.

 

The drive measured 7.450 I seen that’s what the stock length was. Before I dropped the pan I slid a straw over the drive that fit pretty tight and measured from the top of straw to the block and lifted it up until it was out of the pump and it was only around a 1/4 “ to get it to disengage.

with the pan off looking where that drive key goes in the pump its flush with the casting, not sure if that’s right or if there should be more of that sticking above the casting.

I was able to spin the pump with a drill before I tore it down and had oil to all the rockers

 

I shut it down when i seen no oil pressure and tore it down today. Turning it with a drill before I started tearing it down it still showed 50-60 pounds

 

Do you have any images of the drive ? It’s time to install a billet drive shaft , only from the bottom . Something else has happened allowing it to fall out with the pump installed . I have twisted a few of those OEM shafts in two .

 

By the way the Comet Sedan is where’s at ! I had one that was a one owner , 31000 on the clock. I installed a super stout 302 , 4 speed and , 9 in . . That’s one I wish I had back . Owner I sold it to still has it , never touched it . In the garage , never moved after 1 week of ownership . I hack ask numerous times “ not for sale , I can’t replace it “ is the answer .

 

I would also suggest you upgrade the drive shaft, either Ford Performance/Ford Motorsport or ARP or something similar.

Ford should be embarrassed for putting such a spindly piece in there to begin with.

 

Yes, you can check any main without it changing anything, just re-torque it back together

 

no pics but I can grab some. one side has a slight chamber and the other side had more of a point. Seems there was a small notch in one side of the hex, when I slide that clip back on it stopped at that notch

 

Did the oil pump attaching bolts come loose by chance?

 

Something is up with the shaft, distributor or the pump. That shaft should not be able to get out of there. 1/4 inch into the pump doesn’t seem right. Are you sure the shaft didn’t fall out as you pulled the distributor? May not hear it with the pan full of oil.

 

I would think it impossible for an oil pump shaft to fall out once it’s assembled. Check the rearmost connecting rod and main bearing. There last to get oil.

 

One thing comes to mind 351 deck height is taller that 302 . Possibly 351 block with 302 driveshaft and distributer ? As others have said without oil pump , or distributer moving it can not come out of an assembled engine . This has my brain smokin , I’d love to know the answer .

 

If you find upon reassembly, for any reason, that the shaft seems shorter than you'd like, get one for an FE engine (352/390 etc.) and cut to length. That'll fix it.

 

I’m gonna check pump now that the pan is off. I had oil pressure as I left the house which makes me believe without that clip on the shaft it was able to lift up out of the pump while I was driving. Distributor was still locked down and wasn’t raised off the block or anything

 

Each bolt was still tight

 

my brains broke too. Haha .. with the pan off I’m going to drop that shaft into the pump with the clip off like it was and put the distributor back in and lock it down and see if that shaft can rise high enough up into the distributor to allow it to come out of the oil pump. Then try it with the clip on it and see what I get. If I can get a vid I’ll post it

 

READ HERE - https://www.onallcylinders.com/2020...l-pump-driveshaft-distributor-alignment-tips/

 

Thanks for the link, very helpful! I reinstalled the driveshaft with the retainer ring and test fit the distributor.
I’m running the HEI Chevy style distributor on the 289 which has the longer shaft from the gear down and also has a deeper hole up into the shaft. Even deeper than what the length difference between shafts is.

I still think with that clip missing on the shaft along with that deeper hole in the distributor shaft allowed that driveshaft to move up just enough and disengage from the oil pump. Again.. not sure if that’s possible but it’s the only logical explanation I have to loose oil pressure after hitting a washboard section of road.

I’ll take some measurements of driveshaft height below the where the gear rides and translate that to the shaft and see how much movement up into the shaft would be possible and come up with a fix to take away some of that depth

thanks for all the help on this guys!!

 

Now it all makes sense if the hole is too deep in the end of the distributor shaft. As Steve says that clip is only there to hold the shaft in the pump when you pull the distributor. The shaft is held down by the end of the distributor hole while running. If the clip has any load on it, it will fail. Maybe a longer hex drive?

 

Of course it's possible with a non correct distributor. This ill fitting aftermarket stuff needs so much checking and fiddling to prevent problems...count yourself lucky that big ugly distributor didn't cost you an engine.
Of course the lack of retainer clip was a big contributor, but still....

 

If you need to fill some space in the distributor gear end of the deal, just cut a piece off an old Allen wrench. clean the pocket in the distributor gear and epoxy the cut piece into the bottpm of the drive bore in the gear.
Even a piece of round rod could be used if epoxy'd in.

 

Thats exactly what I did … took it out last week to a show with no issues

 

yeah it may be ugly but the electronics haven’t let me down yet like the coils and points have