dibbons
Well-Known Member
I took the original rocker arms and shafts off my '65 Signet convertible to be rebuilt for another motor (340) so it had been sitting for awhile.
Finally purchased a used set of 273 adjustable rockers with shafts (to replace those I removed) and put those on to get it runnin' again. However, upon re-assembly, I found two mysteriously bent intake pushrods (cylinders #5 and #6) which brought things to a screeching halt until "Demonracer" mailed me some replacement pushrods for free (paid for shipping only).
Changed the spark plugs and wires, adjusted the valves cold (.016" intake/.025" exhaust), attached the jumper cables (old battery has a dead cell now), primed the carburetor, tossed a couple of gallons of gasoline in the tank, poured a little 30 weight oil over the rocker arms, stuck a pen in the PCV hose to plug it up, and it fired up in about 10 seconds. Ran for a minute and died. Primed again, ran for a minute, and died. Repeat that procedure about four or five times till it warmed up a little and idled all on its own.
I let it run for about 10 minutes, still with the valve covers off. I expected oil to spray all over the exhaust manifolds but nothing (see photo #5). I hope that is normal? I still don't know the culprit behind the bent pushrods, fingers crossed it doesn't happen again anytime soon. The valve train noise was less than I expected.
One more observation: I noticed some pushrods were spinning slowly at idle, but not all of them. I wonder if that's normal? Thank you.
Finally purchased a used set of 273 adjustable rockers with shafts (to replace those I removed) and put those on to get it runnin' again. However, upon re-assembly, I found two mysteriously bent intake pushrods (cylinders #5 and #6) which brought things to a screeching halt until "Demonracer" mailed me some replacement pushrods for free (paid for shipping only).
Changed the spark plugs and wires, adjusted the valves cold (.016" intake/.025" exhaust), attached the jumper cables (old battery has a dead cell now), primed the carburetor, tossed a couple of gallons of gasoline in the tank, poured a little 30 weight oil over the rocker arms, stuck a pen in the PCV hose to plug it up, and it fired up in about 10 seconds. Ran for a minute and died. Primed again, ran for a minute, and died. Repeat that procedure about four or five times till it warmed up a little and idled all on its own.
I let it run for about 10 minutes, still with the valve covers off. I expected oil to spray all over the exhaust manifolds but nothing (see photo #5). I hope that is normal? I still don't know the culprit behind the bent pushrods, fingers crossed it doesn't happen again anytime soon. The valve train noise was less than I expected.
One more observation: I noticed some pushrods were spinning slowly at idle, but not all of them. I wonder if that's normal? Thank you.
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