My 427 SOHC Build..... Finally the time has come!

[cobracammer]

Cylinder #5


Cylinder #6...... Complete with locked up rocker and metal flakes!


Cylinder #7


Cylinder #8

[Nightmist66]

Oh no! What a shame. I feel for you. Did/does the oil smell of gas, what was your oil pressure, did you prime the system with the valve covers off to watch oil flow?

[cobracammer]

No oil doesnt smell. My guess is crap clogged the oil hole on the rocker shaft for just that rocker. Noise went away when I used thinner viscosity oil ( maybe some oil got through?). But i guess driving it today did the trick. On a good note, timing chain is still nice and tight. Also its nice that it happened on drivers side because cannot remove valve cover on passenger side while engine is in the car.... Engine would have to come out

This sort of reminds me of the 2 rockers jay had seize during dragweek in the galaxie

[Dave427SOHC]

Thats disheartening sorry to see this but the engine will have to come out and be dissassembled and thoroughly cleaned.

[blykins]

On that last picture is that a crack at 11:00?

[cobracammer]

Hey Brent. Went back in and checked. It doesnt seem to be a crack. Maybe a scratch when I was assembling (possibly). Cant feel it with your finger at all.

[ScotiaFE]

Feel for ya man...
stay with it though, it is still a great project.

[turbohunter]

I know your heart is ripped out and baking on the hot sidewalk of expectation, but stay with it.
We have all been there.
Keep at it Jason, it's a cool car.

[blykins]

I suspect you have had oiling issues all along.  All of those rockers show sign of excessive heat and wear and a lack of oil. 

[My427stang]

Man that sucks,

Before you freak and pull the engine though, do a little investigating and see if you can figure out why it was running dry.  Maybe even priming the pump and seeing where the oil travels, sure would be a shame to just pull it without an answer

I know metal went in there, but it's hard to tell from the pics how much damage there really is and how far it would have went.

Jay is the guy to talk rocker failure, he has seen his share of it.

I have to agree with Brent though, looks like a crack in that pic

[Nightmist66]

In pic #3, is that a scratch or a crack on the cam lobe? Does look like a crack in last pic.

[jayb]

Jason, I have to agree that it appears there is insufficent oiling, and to be honest from the pictures it appears to me that it is affecting all of the rockers.  The cam lobes should not look like that.  Have you pulled the valve cover on the other side of the engine to see if it appears the same?  If you notice a big difference between the two sides, you are not getting oil on the 5-8 cylinder side. 

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that you have to pull the engine just yet.  Do some more investigating first...

Edit:  Sorry, didn't see where you said you couldn't get the passenger side valve cover off.  What is in the way of that?  You might think about modifying the car so that the right valve cover can be removed.  You need access to the valvetrain to lash the valves, etc.

[cobracammer]

Hey jay. Cant pull the other valve cover without pulling the engine. Is that cam plug what supplies oil to the drivers side?  Or is it the oil passage on the stub cam?

[jayb]

The #2 cam bearing supplies oil to the driver's side, and #4 to the passenger side.  It sucks that you can't get that passenger side valve cover off.  Can you take the engine loose from the mounts and jack it up a little to get to it, or anything like that?  I think you may see a big difference from side to side.  That would really tell us a lot, and it would also point to a solution...

[Barry_R]

I have to agree with the other folks - not enough oil on that side.  First mop up what chips you can with shop vacuum and rags.  Before pulling the valvetrain off use a drill to spin the oil pump and watch to see how much lube is coming up.  It should be a pretty fair amount.  I have a "workaround" if you are not getting enough/much oil there.

If you cannot easily remove the passenger side cover you might be able to catch a peep into that side by pulling off the spark plugs and removing the plug tubes.  A little flashlight down one hole and a bore scope/eyeballs down the other - you're looking for oil flow while spinning that oil pump along with similar rocker damage.

You'll be replacing at least one cam and sending the rockers in for rework.  Things look pretty dry up there.  With no oil flow to flush the chips away I would not be surprised to find the majority of damage and debris contained to the valve cover area.  After removing the damaged stuff start the cleanup with a magnet and some cloths - don't be tempted to just hose it down with spirits or cleaner..  Cut open the oil filter (again).  You might get lucky...can you remove the oil pan in the car?