Bent up stuff

340demon72 said

All the above being excellent info., I am puzzled about the sequence of events that led to this damage. In post #1 (2) items catch my attention: "my motor was running perfect earlier today." and "Motor started running real rough and he said to drive it anyways."

Now it's not until post #11 that you mention "One detail I can thing of is that he did set the lash what seemed like half-*** to me by eyeballing the opening and closing of the valves." Did he do this at the same time that he screwed up the timing and other stuff? If so did the running rough start right then? My point being that if it was running OK before the valve lash, then that's when the clearance problems started, indicating not enough total clearance was set in system to start with.

The valves look too big (diam.) for the retainers and head pockets to me. Also if wasn't coil bind but the retainers hitting the valve guides, the valve seals should be crushed or split.

I understand clearancing rockers is commonly done but it does compromise the strength/integrity of the rocker. Best to work with the manufacturer to get compatible parts. If it has to be done, a competent machinist would use an end mill. Sorry, using a die grinder on rockers is HACK! Hope you get this sorted........

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The 'Cuda was running fine after valve lash was set. So, that probably isn't it. We learned yesterday that the rockers were contacting the retainers. One rocker had a very deep gouge in it. However, that had been going on before pushrods bent and motor was running strong. The main reason I am at a complete loss here is because all but three pushrods bent (badly) and both springs on #2 broke in half. Oddly no bent valves, going on air bleed by check. I could have been driving around with the bent pushrods because it is a solid roller cam and everything is noisy on the car. However, these pushrods look like bananas. So, I am thinking everything crapped out at once. I wasn't hot rodding or revving. My friend the machinist wanted to prove his theory on not needing the pcv and vacuum advance. We pull into the gas station. He disconnects everything. Puts a breather in place of the pcv. Plugs off carb port. Advances the timing. Car is immediately running really horrible. Wouldn't idle and no power. He suggests to drive it. I very reluctantly agree and it only got worse. Limp the poor thing home. Pull valve covers. See broken springs on #2. All pushrods bent except for three of them. Never revved the 340 and drove 30-40.