Autopsy

[GTXJim]

Pulled the motor yesterday found a few more problems first off had a bent pushrod that had smashed into the rockers, then noticed a broken roller lifter that was laying in the lifter valley with the piece that had broken off looked like the cup end of the pushrod had got very hot(maybe due to lack of oil) and failed, found another about to fail.
The jessel timing had moved round to the max( I hadn't tightened the adjusting bolts up properly ) and the exhaust valves had kissed the top of the pistons. All the bearings were okish not too bad the worst was the cap I had taken off last week and as I thought it was debris, form the Ally rocker's. Luckily the cam was perfect.
So all in all it was a good move to strip the motor down, fortunately I have spare pushrods, I think i can clean up the rockers for now, I have spare adjusters and spare lifters so with a bit of luck it's gaskets, bearings, crank polish a good clean up and it should be back together next week back to sorting out the oiling problem

[Dave-R]

Better that happen now than at 6500rpm in top gear on the strip I suppose. You could view it as a lucky escape.

[Anonymous]

Good luck with it Jim , mistakes are easily made , heads up for giving us a run down.

[Ivor]

Blimey Jim, I think Petes' right, it could have ben a lot worse...just what you needed though eh?

[Pete]

Blimey!
I take it you have dropped that valves out and made sure they don't bind in the guides?

I would also be nervous about those rockers and stress fractures.

That over-heated push rod is amazing

Good luck with the re-build.

I hope to find out on Friday if I have hurt the motor when the convertor bolt spat out............

[Blue]

Looks to me like the pushrod cup has been rubbing the body of the rocker, might need to grind a bit more clearance....

[Anonymous]

Bit late to comment , i had a new set of cam bearings installed on the 440 (last week) , when checking/rebuilding , i noticed the oil way on the cam bearing to the head (passenger bank) almost blocked off (oil ways on block out of line) , i had to open the bearing oil way out with a file , getting down from deck of block , don't know what oiling system you've got Jim but noticed you posted another valve train related problem elsewhere on here , maybe something to think about.

Thanks for the rat tail file Blue.

[GTXJim]

Cheers Brutus, I think we sorted the oil problems for the time being.
The Rockers have taken a bit of a beating and I'm not happy with the alignment so may be going for off set Roller lifters and new Roller Rockers but not at the moment, need to earn a few quid first.

[NaughtyAlan]

Had the same thought when building my engine Jim, had to stick with slot eye roller rockers but couldn't afford roller lifters $$$$$ i didn't have, one day i hope. Wasnt to happy with the side clearances with the rockers so added a few more shims. That pushrod shaw has got hot. Think you were lucky it didn't do more damage. Good luck with the build.

[mopar_mark]

Cheers Brutus, I think we sorted the oil problems for the time being.
The Rockers have taken a bit of a beating and I'm not happy with the alignment so may be going for off set Roller lifters and new Roller Rockers but not at the moment, need to earn a few quid first.

If your going with the offset lifters, I would go for the AMX type lifters & get an oil through the pushrod set up. Much better lubrication & cures roller rocker lubrication issues.

[Anonymous]

Just thought i'd bring this back up , might help someone with future builds.

Had this problem with a 440 but luckily got it sorted before any damage was done........................those adjusters need to show a couple of threads , if not the oil way in rocker arm to pushrod cup will 'miss' the adjuster/cup & burn the PR due to lack of oil , the only fix was to shorten the pushrods bringing the adjuster down in line with the oil way , only found this out when priming the oil on assembly.

Seems there's a lack off instruction sheets with these aftermarket parts , seems the only way too learn is when parts gets busted up.

[Cannonball]

why will it miss brutal?? is it because it needs to spray against the adjuster screw to run down in to the pushrod cup???

if thats the case good on you for looking hard enough to see the problem,

[GTXJim]

Yes that was the problem it was the adjusters I had changed them to a new set and that's when it went pear shaped put the old ones back and it's been fine, also i bought some 1:5:1 rockers to replace the damaged 1:6:1 rockers and rocker hold down studs instead of bolts.
By the way this lovely motor is for sale at only £7,000 it's got the best of everything worth it for parts alone, the heads are awesome flow over 400cfm

[Anonymous]

why will it miss brutal?? is it because it needs to spray against the adjuster screw to run down in to the pushrod cup???

That's right Dunc , if the adjuster does'nt show @ least a thread then the oil hole in rocker will spray part way down the pushrod & miss the cup , it seems two threads showing is about right , too far out & the adjuster will break off , if you look @ the relationship between rocker arm oil way & adjuster you will see what the problems are , some have the oilway closer to adjuster thread & some don't , seems you just gotta check everything & not assume.

You can't get away with pushrods being too long thinking adjustment can be taken up on the adjuster , just gotta get the right size pushrods for the job , some shim the rocker shaft to pedestal to get away with it , all this does is put the geametry out between rocker arm tip & valve stem , there's no short cuts , ask me how i know.

Found a scorched PR on the 605" again , only slightly scorched but obviously not getting enough oil , had to reconfigure the oil holes in spray bar again.