The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 216 rocker shaft oil feed.... this ain't right man

My 3800 has a 216 with an aluminum valve cover. The valve cover was cracked so I picked up a good used stock one so that I could repair the crack. Oddly enough, that is NOT the only problem.
The feed to the rocker shaft comes off the oil filter and THROUGH the side of the aluminum cover. Can someone tell me where its SUPPOSED to go?
look here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremy_vaughan/4700577315/in/set-72157624151131027/
It works well enough, and I don't really see a need to move it except for having to punch a hole in the nice valve cover I just got. Oh that and I'd like to keep more oil IN the valve cover rather than out of it...
Thanks,
Jeremy

Someone has disconnected the oil feed line under the side cover that connects to the Oil Distributor on the lower opposite side of the block. This is the line that passes through the coolant cavities between the cylinders. Then they replaced it with the line you show to get oil to the valve train. The original line oftened got plugged or it could have been broken when someone tried to remove it incorrectly.

ummm OK. So where do I start to trace it backwards? I don't know where on the block you are talking about. When you say side cover, you mean push-rod cover right? Where is the oil distributor? I've never heard of one.

Jeremy

"Oiler kits" once were in common use on some valve in head engines that were prone to plugging the oil channels to the overhead.The stovebolt was one of these as was the trashy old "Y"
block v-8 from the blue oval.Often the pluggage was where the oil was passed around the cam bearing between it and the block.Detergent oils changed on a appropriate frequency helps prevent this but the old engines with the old oils in the hands of operators who are frugal and/or ignorant of what they are doing makes some terrible muck in the oiling system.We could talk a lot more on this subject.

The oil distributor is a roughly triangular piece of sheet metal on the driver's side near the oil pan rail close to the middle of the engine. It has a spring-loaded pressure control valve that meters a small volume of oil to the cylinder head through a 3/16" diameter steel tube that passes through the water jacket and ends up under the pushrod cover near the center of the cylinder head. Originally, the tube was soldered into place after two threaded fittings were installed, to prevent coolant leaks into the oil system. It can be replaced by using compression fittings and 3/16" steel brake line. It's not a simple job, however. The rocker arms don't need much oil, just enough to make them drip a little is plenty. The majority of the oil needs to stay in the crankcase, going to the rod and main bearings, hence the reduced pressure and volume from the oil distributor.
Jerry

Jim Carter sells a replacment kit for that I put one on when I rebuilt My 216 last winter,comes with copper line and all the fittings.

Pete

Here is an illustration from the Master Parts Manual that shows the distributor plate.
Here is the the Shop Manual extact giving the Chevrolet instructions on replacing the tube that runs through the block. As Jerry said above, it is not real easy to replace; hence, the external line that is occasionally seen. I recall seeing an illustration in one of the shop manuals linked in the Old Manual Project, but I did not locate it in a quick perusal.

Hoyt

Thanks, the picture is a help. I'll crawl around the motor this week end and let y'all know what I find. I don't really want to put a hole in the valve cover, may need to...