1970 292 cid

[heritagewraith]

I am replacing head gasket on a stock Chevy 292 6-cyl. I have done nothing else to the motor. I place head onto the block. Two of the pushrods are keeping the head from seating. I have not cranked the motor, while head has been off. The head has been off for about 2 weeks. How can I make the head seat back onto the block???

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by heritagewraith

I am replacing head gasket on a stock Chevy 292 6-cyl. I have done nothing else to the motor. I place head onto the block. Two of the pushrods are keeping the head from seating. I have not cranked the motor, while head has been off. The head has been off for about 2 weeks. How can I make the head seat back onto the block???

Are they the last two pushrods for Cylinder #6?
If you pulled the rear lifter cover, and extracted the 2 lifters from Cyl. #6, would that give you more play on the pushrods? [Remember which one is which, they have a wear-in ''set'' to them by now. Same for the rods.]
When I had to replace my valve springs last year, on a '68 L6 292, I had the use the ''wonder-bar''-type valve spring compresser ''backhand'' or upside down -- with an almond shaped hole drilled in the middle of the bar to clear the pushrod.
With the firewall curving into an alcove, Cylinder No. Six is a b!tch on 292s. 250 guys don't have this problem.

[heritagewraith]

No, They are in cylinder 2.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Pull the front lifter cover and try that.
Didn't you remove the pushrods when you pulled the head? Did you not have to back off the rocker arm adjusting nuts and swing the rockers over to extract the pushrods? So now, you have to readjust the rockers, anyway.
So pull off the lifter cover and check the intake and exhaust lifters on #2. They may have been pulled up when the pushrods were extracted and gotten cocked at an angle.
To adjust valve lash on Chevy L6's check out this video from Tom Lowe:

You Tube

Hope this helps.

[AussieinNC]

Remove the pushrods....keep pushrods in the order you remove them,,,
Place the head back on the engine without the pushrods in place...
Back off the adjuster nuts on the rocker arms enough to turn the rocker and then insert each pushrod back into the original hole...

Remove the spark plugs if they are in the head...
Set cylinder 1 to tdc on compression...(remove the dist cap and make sure the rotor is pointing to #1 cylinder wire location)
Set rocker arm lash to just remove any gap between rocker arm end and valve stem...
Turn engine by hand 120 degrees, then set cyl 5 rockers to zero lash
Turn engine by hand 120 degrres then set cyl #3 rockers to sero lash

Repeat for following cylinders in firing order cyl 6, cyl 2, cyl 4...

Replace dist cap...

Finish assembling engine but leave rocker cover off...

Check engine oil level and coolant level is correct....

Start engine and turn down each valve rocker arm nut to remove any clack clack...

Once all quiet...shut down engine, install rocker cover and new gasket...

Hope this helps...

Watch the video above...your rocker nuts will be cifferent as the ones shown in the viseo are aftermarket roller rockers....

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by AussieinNC

Remove the pushrods....keep pushrods in the order you remove them,,,
Place the head back on the engine without the pushrods in place...
Back off the adjuster nuts on the rocker arms enough to turn the rocker and then insert each pushrod back into the original hole...

Remove the spark plugs if they are in the head...
Set cylinder 1 to tdc on compression...(remove the dist cap and make sure the rotor is pointing to #1 cylinder wire location)
Set rocker arm lash to just remove any gap between rocker arm end and valve stem...
Turn engine by hand 120 degrees, then set cyl 5 rockers to zero lash
Turn engine by hand 120 degrres then set cyl #3 rockers to sero lash

Repeat for following cylinders in firing order cyl 6, cyl 2, cyl 4...

Replace dist cap...

Finish assembling engine but leave rocker cover off...

Check engine oil level and coolant level is correct....

Start engine and turn down each valve rocker arm nut to remove any clack clack...

Once all quiet...shut down engine, install rocker cover and new gasket...

Hope this helps...

Watch the video above...your rocker nuts will be cifferent as the ones shown in the viseo are aftermarket roller rockers....

Perfect. Can't beat the back-to-basics approach.

[Steeveedee]

Back in the day, I would leave the rocker arms all tight to help pop the head off the gaskets and block, then slip the push rods out and put them in a little line of soldiers so that they stayed in the proper order. Same for rocker arms if there is a valve job in progress.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

Back in the day, I would leave the rocker arms all tight to help pop the head off the gaskets and block, then slip the push rods out and put them in a little line of soldiers so that they stayed in the proper order. Same for rocker arms if there is a valve job in progress.

That beats whacking it on the side with a singlejack.
I saw a guy do that in a Furd 300 video to loosen the head... He also just threw all his pushrods into the same coffee can. I guess life is simpler for our Furd brethern, God bless 'em. They don't have to learn to read or write, bathe, or cook their food either.
The Ford 300 I6 came out 2 years after the Chevy 292 L6, Talk about reverse engineering: the intake/manifold is on the passenger side and the sparkplugs and distributor are on the drivers side. A mirror copy.

I like to use an empty 1 dozen egg carton to hold my rocker arms, rocker balls and nuts in line.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

That beats whacking it on the side with a singlejack.
I saw a guy do that in a Furd 300 video to loosen the head... He also just threw all his pushrods into the same coffee can. I guess life is simpler for our Furd brethern, God bless 'em. They don't have to learn to read or write, bathe, or cook their food either.
The Ford 300 I6 came out 2 years after the Chevy 292 L6, Talk about reverse engineering: the intake/manifold is on the passenger side and the sparkplugs and distributor are on the drivers side. A mirror copy.

I like to use an empty 1 dozen egg carton to hold my rocker arms, rocker balls and nuts in line.

Heh, I have an ex-brother in law that used sledge hammers for effect on vehicles. They are good for many a job, but he got a little carried away some times.