The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop '62 Chevy II w/194

We were given this car, thinking it might be a donor 235 (which it wasn't, since it's a 194), and being anal retentive, we put a few hundred dollars into it - new tires, tie rods, brake shoes, but no engine work. It did start hammering when it got hot.

Anyway, hoping to sell it without screwing anyone, I found the stuck hydraulic lifters today, and it's running pretty well BUT:

One rocker is not getting oiled (except indirectly from splash). The lifter, rod, and rocker are all clean, but no oil is arriving.
Having never seen the bottom end of this engine, how does oil get to the lifter? Is there a port in the cam (that might be clogged?). Is it fatal to leave this one to the next owner?

Also, anyone got a suggestion for engine timing for this thing? 5degBTDC (at idle) works pretty well. It has a vacuum advance - remind me how you set the timing???

Thanks!

There is a bored oil gallery past the center of all the lifters that supplies oil to them. It sounds like you've got a clogged pushrod, or a metering valve in the lifter that's not allowing oil to go up the pushrod. Try putting about a pint of kerosene or diesel fuel in the oil, get it up to running temperature, and run at a fast idle for 30 minutes to an hour. Change oil & filter while still hot. If that doesn't clean it out, it will take a new cam & lifters, probably more than you want to spend on a rehab job.
Jerry

I cleaned all the lifters, and the lifters all got scrambled. The rod is clear (as is the rocker).

When I started, two rockers were not getting oil. The one that is still bad definitely got a working lifter after rehab. The second spot is fixed (its lifter was flared on the underside and that lifter is elsewhere).

Is the bored galley on the inboard side of the lifters? I can poke around in there if the kerosene doesn't work.

If any of the lifters are getting oil, they all are. The oil gallery is about 1/2" in diameter, and runs from front to back, past all the lifters. Sometimes the adjustment is pretty critical, as holes in both parts of the lifter must align before oil will flow up the pushrod. With both valves fully closed, adjust the rocker arm to just eliminate any slack, then tighten the nut 3/4 to 1 turn clockwise. Running valve adjustments just don't work!
jerry

I did each rocker one turn past slack. Is the hole from the bored gallery to the lifter 1/2" or is it smaller (and could plug)? The errant spot is the third rocker back (#2 intake, I think).

Since the whole rocker area gets a pretty good spraying, is one failure fatal?

Jim,
I have a 62 deuce w/194 also, I made it go today for the first time in a long while. From my limited exp. Jerry is right, doing the adj.while running is not much fun and only somewhat effective. I havre one lifter that is not quite right, and the motor has about 1000 mi. on it from rebuild...there is a lot of info out there about the lifters sticking etc. but from what I've found the rockers actually squirt a huge amount of oil when working right and it gets all over the engine compartment when you try to adjust them!!
good luck!!
Jeff

The bored gallery runs right past each lifter. The hole for the lifter actually intersects the oil gallery, so there's no way for just one lifter to be starved for oil. If the others are oiling OK, there's probably enough splash getting to the dry one to oil it sufficiently. You might try adjusting the problem rocker up or down a little, maybe 1/4 turn or so, as the lifter might be a little picky about running height. If it's running smooth and not rattling, I'd run it as is.
Jerry