The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Rockers

It has been my understanding that the primary purpose of the bent tube past the rocker shaft fitting was to direct the excess oil flow back into a drain hole so that oil did not spray all over the place when the engine is running with the valve cover removed. I have never heard a good explanation why some of the oil supplied to rocker arm assembly needed to be bypassed. If the return tube (or what is left of it) is pinched off, then there will be more oil flowing to the rocker arms than was originally intended. Is this a problem? Probably not. However, the oil that flows out of the bleeder holes in each rocker arm could squirt out at too great of a velocity and not properly lubricate the valve stems and poshrod seats, as discussed in the text below Figure 3 in the 1955 Shop Manual in the post above. What does the oil flow pattern look like while the engine is idling. As I recall, there should be a steady stream of oil flowing out of each rocker, but it should not be blowing out with great force. Still enough to make a mess after a few minutes of running with the cover off. If you cannot find a new or good replacement oil supply tube now, I would just partially pinch the broken tip until a replacement is found and installed.

Hoyt