So... The pushrod is indeed bent a little. I wonder if that happened pre- or post- rocker arm failure. If the pushrod bent during the failure of the rocker arm, then it might be because the valve was stuck? Does that even happen? I think I'm going to go ahead and put a pushrod and rocker arm from another valve onto it tonight then jog the starter a little just to make sure it's all working properly. Called around. Nobody in town seems to have my rocker arm in stock. They can all order it, but I don't want to wait. Got stuff to do Sunday and I need the car on the road Monday, so I'm going to hit the bone yard in the morning and see what I can find. And here's something interesting. I brought the two pieces of the rocker arm with me when I went back to work today and showed a friend. He looked at them more closely than I did, and spotted an apparent casting flaw, bubble or old crack right where the split started. That's rather encouraging I think. One more question: Anybody know the torque spec for the rocker arm nuts?
More news. I took the rocker off the intake valve next to the broken one, same cylinder, so I could put it on the exhaust valve and make sure it was opening and closing properly. That's when I noticed the pushrod on that one is bent too, and significantly. I can only guess that must have happened when the cylinder fired, then couldn't vent the exhaust because of the broken rocker, then built up pressure on the up stroke and the intake valve didn't want to open. Sound plausible? Any other theories? I then took another rocker and pushrod off the #3 cylinder, put that on the #4 exhaust valve which had the broken rocker, and jumped the solenoid. The valve seems to open and close fine...
Oh my God I am SO GLAD THIS HAPPENED! . . . AND I'm glad nobody had my rocker arm in stock! . BECAUSE.... I have to go to Pull-A-Part. So I checked their inventory. And they have a 1970 Maverick that got hauled in TODAY!
Rocker arm situation will be fixed tomorrow. I'll scrounge one up at the yard, and some pushrods too in case the parts stores don't have those either. As for details... All I know right now is they have a '70 Mav that showed up today. Not their first Maverick, but their first 2-door with the right door panels for my car. If those are good I will grab 'em. Maybe a few other things. I will post pics and details of the car tomorrow.
Just got back from Pull-A-Part. Man I'm exhausted! Well my enthusiasm about that '70 Mav has been curbed a bit since last night. I did get some pics though, and there are some usable parts on it. Just nothing I can use. It's got both bumpers, (front one's in the trunk... sorta) and they look like good cores for rechroming. Lots of scratches, peeling and pits, but no major rust that I saw. They'd need a little straightening. Valances are shot, brackets look good. Interior's mostly gone, door panels are potentially salvageable but they would need a lot of work so I passed on those. It was a manual car and it does have the pedals! No engine or trans of course. Deluxe gas cap, but it's rough. I did get my rocker arm and pushrods, so I'm gonna put all that together in a little while after I cool off. Will report back soon...
It's really, really bad though. The lens is extremely cracked up and it's got as many pits as the boomerangs.
Sounds possible that the closed valve could have bent the other push rod. As long as the valves seem to be opening and closing alright when you are turning the engine over slowly I would guess the valves are alright. I once saw my brother in law turn over a 351C and bend every push rod because all of the valves were stuck. lol Try some new parts and turn the engine over easy and see what it does is what I would do. Good luck clint
Well I've got the valve train put back together. That one rocker on #4 exhaust valve feels a touch loose, but I'll see if that corrects itself after I run it a minute with the valve cover off.
