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4/11/19: 4/11/20: This will be my last post in “Project Journals” for a while as we are wintering in South Carolina and won’t be returning to New York (where the “ole gal” is) until mid to late May. I’ve been playing catch-up with my posts since I started this journal and finally reached the point where I have caught up.

When we left NY in early January, I was battling a low oil pressure issue. The general consensus from this forum back in December was the lower end bearings needed to be looked at. I was a bit reluctant to pursue this road as I was not convinced that other discrepancies were not at least contributing to the issue.

One of the contributing factors is I have a ‘59 235 with a ‘61 “848” head and hydraulic lifters. The rockers are pre ’59. The earlier 235 (pre ‘59) had a 1/16” restrictor installed in the oil supply to the rockers presumably to limit the amount of oil being supplied to the rockers preventing oil spewing all over the place. In ‘59 they opened the restriction up to 11/32”, closed off the overflow tube and offset the weep holes in the rocker arms in relation to the supply holes in the rocker shaft, which now pressurizes the shaft. I have pre ‘59 rockers with the supply overflow tube so it won’t pressurize the rocker shaft. I have since obtained a set of original ‘59 style of rockers and plan on installing them when I return.

The engine was rebuilt by a supposable reputable engine rebuilder in 2013 and I don’t know if they put in any type of restrictor nor if they knew that was a change in the rocker oil system. This truck sat for six years before I bought it in February 2019, so there is little mileage since the rebuild, thus my reluctance to check the lower end.

However, I was able to locate and contact the PO that had the engine rebuilt. He was more than happy to talk to me about the truck and told me some history about the engine rebuild. After the original rebuilt, he had a main bearing ceased up due to a bearing being too tight and the builder remedied it by adding .001” shims to all the main bearing caps. He had also experienced low oil pressure issue after the rebuild.

Finally conceding to the fact, that the main and rod bearings need to be looked at, I am contemplating which direction I should head when I get back to NY, to fix this issue. As I see it, I have two roads to go down:

Remove the pan, inspect and plastigauge the main and rod bearings and replace the rockers to the correct ‘59 style.
* PROS:
* Should take allot less time unless I find a bigger issue
* CONS:
* This would involve me doing most of the work on my back which is something I’m not looking forward too.

Remove engine and totally go thru it.
* PROS:
* Much easier on my back
* Can do a much more thorough job
* Can paint engine
* Easy access to clean up engine bay
* CONS:
* Much, much more time consuming

Presently, I’m undecided in which direction I should go. What are your thoughts?