It did not look like any oil was getting through the lifters and rods.
By "rods" I'm going to assume you mean "pushrods"? The pushrods are hollow, and oil is pumped through the hydraulic lifters, up the hollow pushrods, and part of it squirts out of the small hole in the rocker arm and bathes the ball pivot in oil to keep it lubed. If the camshaft lobe and/or lifter wears to the point that the lifter plunger extends fully, the internal passageways in the lifter will get out of alignment with each other and restrict or stop the oil flow through the lifter. Combine this with low oil pressure to the lifter galleries caused by worn bearings, and the upper end lube to the heads will be the first thing to lose lubrication. It's similar to somebody like me with impaired circulation because of my heart problems- - - -extremeties like hands and feet get inadequate blood flow because the old pump can't handle the demand like it once could. At least the 265 can be torn down to bare bones and rebuilt, sometimes better than new since a high-volume pump is available now. That wasn't the case when these engines needed their first rebuilds.
Jerry
