The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Engine broke again....

Okay so after my cooling system problems were fixed over he last few days/week, I decided to take out the 56 truck for a fun day of garage sale hunting. It was fine all day until late evening when it lost power a bit and started to miss and bog down. I knew something was up and drove it home slow and steady as to not make anything worse. i pulled the valve cover after it cooled off and sure enough the #3 intake rocker split into two pieces and the adjustment side was in the bottom of the cylinder head. NICE!. The pushrod is bent slightly as well. Any ideas why??
Only can think it was valve lash out of adjustment and or old parts? More importantly, anyone know where to get a new one??? thanks, kyle

I have had this happen on high mileage/dirty 235/216s. I have always suspected a jammed/gummed up lifter. Pull the lifter if you can. Hopefully the lifter is not too dirty to pull it out of the bore. Clean the lifter along with its bore. That will usually take care of it until another piece of crud jambs another lifter. Fortunately, it never seems to damage a valve or piston, usually only the push rod gets bent.

Many of the vendors (Patrick’s antique cars and trucks) listed on this website can help you with the parts, if you cannot turn one up locally.

i see your from folsom, maybe you know a local parts house? It's funny I bought my truck from a guy in folsom.

New parts are still available, with a little searching. I'd try the salvage yards first, though, you might find a complete rockershaft assembly for the cost of a few bits and pieces if you're lucky. The early-model stovebolt stuff, (pre-230/250 engine), is pretty interchangeable. The problem is that the newest stuff our there is nearly 40 years old, so finding good-condition parts might be a problem. Try the engine parts catalogs published by Pioneer, Federal-Mogul, etc. for new items. If there's a major parts distribution warehouse in your area, they might have access to new parts, possibly on special order. I have a Pioneer catalog at my shop, and I'll be there later today. I'll try to post some part numbers a little later.
Jerry

I found bent pushrods when I got my truck. If I were you, and this is what I did. Take off the head and disassemblet the entire rocker assembly. Clean everything very well and inspect. Make sure the valves are not stuck.

Get a new head gasket and exhaust and intake gaskets and new pushrods. The old ones may have been straightened and weakened in the past and they are cheap to replace.

Put it all back together. You will have no more worries with the top end. Total parts $50.- plus the rockershaft parts you broke.

If the engine is high miles and the valves look in good shape don't do a valve job while head is off. Making the head efficient now could cause ring blow by.

I have the best luck just scouring the wrecking yards on Sunrise Blvd, although it can be hit or miss. Usually, I will see several 235 powered vehicles at once or nothing at all.

Napa Auto on Main St in Orangevale has been a good source of parts. Bud Walmer’s Machine Shop in Orangevale does great work with 235s. He has refaced rocker arms and provided new rocker arm shafts for me as well as other machine work. He is an old timer that knows what he is doing with the old 235’s.

I have seen few 56 trucks running around in Folsom. I saw red one for sale about year or so ago not too far from the dam. Did you buy that one?

Also, no need to pull the head unless you feel like extra work.

You guys ever take your trucks to the "mini" car show at the Red Robin parking lot on Thursdays?

If you ever do, You may see me there........Good burgers at that joint, although pricey........and the fries............mmmmmmmmm!

I found a good junkyard that was in the back of my mind and i went out there today and it was a great place for old vehicles. Actually that's all the guy deals with. He had an old 57 3200 with a rocker arm assembly already off the head inside the cab. It looked ok and he gave it to me for 10 bucks. Score! Now I have to clean it and soak it up in some oil cause they are slightly rusty but I can make them work. I also bought a wing window knob, a driver's door handle relay and handle and a factory oil filter canister for another 10 bucks. This guy has about two hundred old 40's thru 60's cars and trucks and he's super reasonable. My friend bought a bunch of small things like me for 20 bucks too and he's got a 53 chevy car. It's nice to finally find a cool place that has the stuff we need. On a side note anyone know how to plumb in that oil filter can?? Do I need to change the oil pump? Where do you buy the filters?

Hey Hondatech,
Where's that junkyard that you're refering too? I'd like to check it out. There's a few real minor parts that I'm lookin' for. john.

Pioneer Automotive Products, in Meridian, Miss. lists new rocker arm assemblies for the 235, Part # RA-1022 for 1950-58 models, and Part # RA-1033 for 59-62. No prices in the catalog I have, but it's worth a call to a warehouse distributor if you really need a new rocker assembly. They've also go internal engine parts for a lot of the older stuff.

www.pioneerautoinc.com

Jerry

I'm offically [censored] now, after getting a rocker from that junkyard, getting a puchrod from napa and getting a lifter from a local machine shop he's telling me that the valve is probably getting stuck in the guide when the engine is hot. I can see that so I went down the street to another machine shop that actually does more than head work and asked about how much and what not. He said ALL 235 engines crack heads and that my head is cracked and that it would be like 500 bucks for a blank casing and I should just buy a 350. What an A hole. He was acting like i was a little kid explaining things to me. I'm an ASE master technician. I figure I know how it works, just the engine was a little before my time. What do you guys think? My oil looks fine, no water in it, the spark plugs look ok except that cylinder which looks rich.

Yup, I agree - you just ran into a first class A-hole!

All 235's crack heads? Mine's been fine for 22 years, maybe I'm just too dumb to know I have a cracked head with it running so well.

I called to another shop and they say the 235 heads are prone to crack. Wierd mine seems fine when the valve train is in one piece.

I kinda agree that maybe the valve is sticking though, it's kinda wierd seeing all the valvetrain go south in one year on one valve.

The machinists may be getting the 235 head mixed up with the 230/250 integral manifold heads that are very prone to cracking. 235's really aren't any worse than most other engines and as long as you don't overheat it it probably won't crack. I have a '58 235 and a '62 261, both with lots of miles and both heads are in good condition.

You probably do have a sticky valve. You should be able to get a valve job along with a magnaflux of the head for less than $500, or just get a used head with good valves. There are plenty of them around.

i figures that the valve is a problem, i pulled the head in a half hour and now I'm getting ready to take it to the machine shop, not the one I already went to though...

Hey Hondatech,
Where's that junkyard at that you were refering to? :rolleyes:

That is too bad about the "A round hole" that you dealt you poor advice. Where is that machine shop located? Let me know if you need a decent shop.

I had head crack on one of my 235s about 20 plus years ago. No apparent reason. The symptom was large white clouds out of the exhaust. There was no oil in the coolant.

Since you have pulled the head, you might as well at least check the valve stem and its guide. Replace the seals. I would avoid a complete valve job if your engine is very tired. The increased compression will finish off the rings. I had to learn the hard way on this one.

Give us a clue on that wrecking yard, was it near Placerville?