Barn raising

[JRBECK64]

Have you thought about running a set of rod guides with hardend pushrods after you change out the Rocker Studs? You might also want to change out all the Rocker Studs if you have the heads off the engine and in a good place to work on them. Maybe step up to a set of Roller Rockers? You have a great looking truck and I know it sucks putting all that work into it and then it sets in the garage because of a bent pushrod. Hope you get it back up and running soon.

JRBECK64

[hgs_notes]

Unless the stud is bent or loose, why remove it? Those little dings shouldn't be a problem with integrity of the stud and have nothing to do with the motion of the rocker. I'd just get a new nut and pushrod, install it and call it a day.

[Mike Bradbury]

I guess I thought that it would cause the rocker to be able to wiggle a bit more than normal. I am not real experienced with rebuilding heads so it sounded logical. I am not sure if this is a regular fix or if this is unusual to have to replace a stud. I have thought about the suggestion of purchasing rockers with deeper push rod pockets to reduce the chance that one might slip out.

[hgs_notes]

You might be over thinking it. I understand wanting to prevent it ever happening again, but this seems more like a freak incident. A loosened nut or a nut that had poor thread locking. Like I said, unless the stud is bent or loose, there is no reason to pull it. The stud is not there as a guide and the rocker should never touch it. The slot is wider than the stud diameter. I would do like one of the other guys said and put a guide plate on it as insurance.

[Mike Bradbury]

Went down to Crower the other day and bought some one piece push rods and some heavier valve springs. Here is what I think happened from talking to the tech down at Crower. The month before the bent rod, I romped on the gas and floated the valve, that was the beginning of the end right there. I guess I found the threshhold of red lind for the engine.

What my cam shaft was doing was dribbling the valves like a basket ball instead of steadily pushing up and down. The springs I have now will not allow the valves to float under the revs that I can put on this mostly stock engine.
The springs are not so strong that they will flatten the cam but are stronger than stock. The rods are a step up from the stock push rods that failed, so I should not have any more issues anymore.
I was hopping to put a nice cam in it with roller rockers and lifters but I just cannot afford the extra grand right now. I am still going to pull the engine and paint it nice but will not be doing much more than just fixing the broken parts for now.
Although the 700r4 will be going in at the same time which will be a great improvement.

[hgs_notes]

That should work. What about push rod guides?

[Mike Bradbury]

From what I have been reading on the subject, if the has self-aligning rockers it does not require guides. if it has rockers with a flat face and no self alignment tabs then it requires guides. My engine already has the self-aligning rockers so I decided not to go through the task of pulling all of the studs to put guides in.
And with the stronger spring in the valve train I don't think it will be a problem floating valves anymore.

[chevy_mike]

Hi Mike, glad to hear you might have figured out what happend and why. Sucks but at least you're moving forward.

From what I am reading, you picked up stiffer valve springs, correct? I think you are going to run into another common problem. With press in rocker studs, they are not really designed for stiffer than stock springs and given time, you are likely running the risk of pulling the studs out of the heads. They won't pull all the way out but will pull out enough to throw the valve adjustment out.

If you're not going to swap heads, I would pull these and have them machined for screw in studs. This will allow you to run most whatever spring rate and not have any problems down the road.

My .02 worth based on my knowledge.

[crakarjax]

Originally Posted by chevy_mike

Hi Mike, glad to hear you might have figured out what happend and why. Sucks but at least you're moving forward.

From what I am reading, you picked up stiffer valve springs, correct? I think you are going to run into another common problem. With press in rocker studs, they are not really designed for stiffer than stock springs and given time, you are likely running the risk of pulling the studs out of the heads. They won't pull all the way out but will pull out enough to throw the valve adjustment out.

If you're not going to swap heads, I would pull these and have them machined for screw in studs. This will allow you to run most whatever spring rate and not have any problems down the road.

My .02 worth based on my knowledge.

I have seen people drill into the sides of the stud base and tap in roll-pins for a home-brewed solution to that problem.

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally Posted by chevy_mike

From what I am reading, you picked up stiffer valve springs, correct? I think you are going to run into another common problem. With press in rocker studs, they are not really designed for stiffer than stock springs and given time, you are likely running the risk of pulling the studs out of the heads. They won't pull all the way out but will pull out enough to throw the valve adjustment out.

If you're not going to swap heads, I would pull these and have them machined for screw in studs. This will allow you to run most whatever spring rate and not have any problems down the road.

My .02 worth based on my knowledge.

Have you done this threading yourself or would you have it done? I just wonder how much it costs vs how much of a headache it is to DIY?

[chevy_mike]

Originally Posted by Mike Bradbury

Have you done this threading yourself or would you have it done? I just wonder how much it costs vs how much of a headache it is to DIY?

I have not done it but have seen the tools and videos on doing it. I would likely have it done, as the heads have to be disasembled and cleaned well before putting it all back together.

I have heard of people doing the "pinned" method but I think that is more old school and not done much anymore.

[Mike Bradbury]

I have decided to pull the 350 so I could go over the whole engine a bit more easily, as well as paint the core support and wheel wells. Not sure if I am going to put a new cam and roller lifters and rockers in it yet, but we will see.

On a side not I did fabricate a load leveler out of scrap metal in the shop that worked like a charm and made the job much easier. I have seen cheep versions for $50 and really nice versions for $150. I could not bring myself to spend anything for such a simple concept that was so easy to make. Now that I have used this I will never use the old ratchet strap method ever again. If you do not have the skills to build one, it is my recommendation that you buy one, because it makes it safer and much easier. There is no struggling to push or pull the engine. I actually pulled my lower back out simply getting out from under the truck about an hour before I started to pull the engine. So the whole engine pull was done with very limited mobility.

[Mike Bradbury]

Went ahead and took the heads to a machine shop and had them pull the rocker studs, mill the bosses down and thread in new studs and guide plates. With the new stiffer springs and chromolly push rods I should be fine from here on out.

Ordered the ceramic engine paint from Eastwood and also pulled the inner fenders to have them powder coated, yanked out the factory air and I am going to be installing a vintage air system soon. It really is amazing how much room is in the engine compartment when nothing is in there.

[hgs_notes]

I had a machine shop do the studs in my heads. They just mill the bosses down some, then tap the holes that are there for the press in studs. The holes may need drilled out some depending on the size of the threads on the new studs. It wasn't that expensive, but you have to disassemble the heads and reassemble. Whether or not you need to go this route depends on just how much spring load there is and how hard you plan on driving it. I did mine because I bought a set of 1.6:1 roller rockers, that would not fit on the press in studs, not because of spring loads. Since I had to have machine work done anyway, I just did new screw in studs. My heads are nothing special, just old stockers, but I think they were small chamber, plus I had the deck and heads milled some, so my compression is higher than stock. The springs were stockers, I should probably upgrade those, but just don't want to throw more money at poor flowing heads. The saving grace for me is that it's a small displacement (283 bored .040") and doesn't need as much flow to reach it's potential.

[slick copper]

Good progress. Keep at it! Love your truck BTW, can't wait to see that engine bay with the motor back in it and those inner fenders!

[chevy_mike]

Sweet. Nice progress!!!! You'll get that engine bay looking as cool as the outside.

[Darkrider]

Nice truck man! Just got a question about the seat. what mods were required to the seat mounts to make them work in the Chevy cab? Even though yours were from an F350 im assuming the ones from a same year F150 would be similar correct?

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally Posted by Darkrider

Nice truck man! Just got a question about the seat. what mods were required to the seat mounts to make them work in the Chevy cab? Even though yours were from an F350 im assuming the ones from a same year F150 would be similar correct?

very little mods are required, I was surprised how close it was to fitting during the pre-fit. I was able to utilize the rear anchor points abut the front needed to be relocated by about an inch. The seat bracket in the rear was also unaltered but since the F350 cab has a higher hump it sits on the brackets only needed a pie shape cut out then welded back in place. left the length and width alone. The fab took me a couple of hours and I was ready to install. One thing though on the seat back, the F350 has arm rests that go all the way back on the doors which requires the seat back to be a couple inches narrower than the bottom. When I had it reupholstered I had the guy add a couple inches of foam on the sides of the back cushion so it all appeared stock. I believe the 150 and 350 cab in the mid 90's are the same.

[Mike Bradbury]

Maybe I just had a little to much time on my hands.
While I was waiting for the Eastwood Engine Paint to arrive I decided to change the engine mounts during the down time. Not sure why, maybe I was just feeling creative and wanted to try it. There is really nothing wrong with the originals except for the fact that they look ugly to me. And since I am going to be dressing up the engine bay I figured now is the time. I decided this after I had the engine out, which in the long run is probably better but I could have gotten a couple a measurements while the engine was in place if I had thought of it then.

What I did was I made a mock up of the engine out of PVC. The PVC rested right on the existing engine mounts so I knew I had the correct height and geometry.



Then I cut out plywood to simulate the threaded holes in the engine block.



Paying careful attention to the orientation to the existing motor mounts.



Then when I removed the engine mounts the plywood is now simulating where the engine should rest and I can fit the new mounts in place.



The cool thing about PVC is that it softens at 120* and cools hard so you can bang it around and it will not loose its shape. Here is the 1.5 PVC mock up with brackets bolted to the PVC engine. All fits well. Now it is time to make the real one.



Here is the real one just tacked up and ready for welding.



All welded up and waiting for powder coat. I am using the red polyurethane bushings and a grade 5 bolt



I still will not know if this works or not until I get the engine done and installed, but it was a fun distraction on a Saturday.

[Vintage Windmills]

subscribed, you have skills!

[mcbassin]

Glad to hear you have the rocker studs figured out. I'm interested in watching your Vintage Air install. Please take lots of pics I have one waiting install myself.

[hgs_notes]

Nice. Wanna make me a set?

[mcbassin]

The engine mounts turned out great. I love the idea of using the pvc to get the bend right. Keep up the pics.

[crakarjax]

Does anyone sell aftermarket mounts like that? I don't have the fab skills, but I do like the look!

[Mike Bradbury]

Here is the completed set. with the bushings installed. I pre-fit them onto the mock engine and they fit pretty good. will not know for sure until I get the engine back in place.