Bent Pushrod

[Little Pete]

You might consider straigtening up the bent push rod and reinstalling so you can run a compression check on the engine. That will most likely tell you if there are any bent valves.
This would also be a good time to check your timing chain as a bad chain will cause the type of damage to push rods that you have.

Dave

Thanks for the help Dave. I am going to try and tear all this apart this weekend. My hopes of making it to Carlisle this year are diminishing with each passing day. I honestly was trying my best to avoid tearing off a head, or moving the A/C compressor out of the way, or pulling the radiator/water pump honestly. Though I am starting to face reality here and know what I'm up against. I will as you and the others mentioned to do a compression test first. I will get the push rod straightened out tonight.

Dave, any ideas what the cylinder compression per cylinder should be?

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Straighten the bent push rod (Mopar solid rods are tough), probably bent on backfire. May never happen again, see you at Carlisle.

 

[Davea Lux]

Thanks for the help Dave. I am going to try and tear all this apart this weekend. My hopes of making it to Carlisle this year are diminishing with each passing day. I honestly was trying my best to avoid tearing off a head, or moving the A/C compressor out of the way, or pulling the radiator/water pump honestly. Though I am starting to face reality here and know what I'm up against. I will as you and the others mentioned to do a compression test first. I will get the push rod straightened out tonight.

Dave, any ideas what the cylinder compression per cylinder should be?

If this is the HP 383 about 150 PSI (most 4 Barrels), the standard 383 more like 125 PSI (Most 2BBL). They should all be within 10 PSI of each other. If you have any bent valves, it will be Zero on that cylinder..

Dave

 

[Little Pete]

If that engine sat for a long time at some point, and was then started with a sticky valve, you could get a bent pushrod like that.

Maybe also if the lifter was collapsed, then the motor started and revved right away, it may have hammered that pushrod.

I was taught to go through and smack the valves loose with a mallet on an engine that sat a long time.

Can you push down on the lifter to see if it is collapsed?

As was suggested, try to clean the valve stem with something. Maybe if don't have a valve spring compressor, you can pop the rocker shaft off, and go through and hit the valves, see how that one compares to the others, determine if it was a previous problem, or if it's a currently stuck valve.
I would run some MMO/ Trans fluid through that thing and try to un- varnish it.
That car had a dead hole for sure, shes gonna really run good hitting on all 8!

I am going to try messing with the valves this weekend also and see if that valve is stuck. The car sit for about 2 years. It did run whenever I bought the car. However it ran very rough. That's when I noticed the carb and bad gas. I have a thread in "Early C Bodies-Slab Side Years" on that crazy problem. Ended up rebuilding the carb, new fuel lines, and then a CR20B Tank that did not want to fit. The old tank was rusty very badly.

I'm waiting for Vans to get my 65-66 C Body tank in early July like everyone else. In the mean time I was cleaning up the engine bay and decided to paint the valve covers and that's when I noticed this whole mess. Honestly I never ran the car much after I bought it and only at idle for the most part.

I did notice however that the valve springs are red, and I doubt the red valve springs would still show that well after 50+ years. Oh, and the dead ringer.....the head bolts look brand new. Which is odd, because this is a low mileage car. The 2nd owner I bought it from had the car 30+ years and I have all the documentation. Find it hard to believe he did any engine work.

Hey, altogether.....at least the valve covers look nice on the bright side.

 

[Little Pete]

These guys all have good points. For my 2-cents.... buy one lifter (smear with cam break in paste), one pushrod & one rocker arm. Install them. I like the idea of turning the motor over with a breaker bar & watching that valve. If all seems OK, fire it up. IF you timing chain is wearing out, you can usually see this by severely fluctuating timing with your timing light (it bounces all around). If it does that, put in a new timing chain. The posts above give good advice, but I'd rather not pull off a head either personally.

Thanks for the help! I will try the compression test. I never thought about the rocker arm maybe being bent. I have to look it over when I take everything off.

 

[Davea Lux]

The unleaded fuels of the mid to late '70's trashed a lot of exhaust valves. Car probably had a valve job at some point.

Dave

 

[Little Pete]

Putting a new lifter on a well worn cam will usually make the cam lobe go flat. I would do this only as a last result if the original lifter was dead. Figure on putting a camshaft in the car in about 20k or less.

While the breaker bar is on the is on the crank pulley, remove the distributor cap and line up the timing mark to TDC. Now rotate the crank shaft back and forth, it you get 12-15 degrees of free play before the distributor starts to move, the chain is out of spec and needs to be replaced. If you get 20 degrees or more free play, the chain is at the point of failure.

Dave

I will do it Dave. Thank You for the help, it is very greatly appreciated!

 

[Davea Lux]

Thanks for the help! I will try the compression test. I never thought about the rocker arm maybe being bent. I have to look it over when I take everything off.

Also look for grooves in the rocker shaft, a good indication of well worn rockers and a possible source of your bent push rod.

Dave

 

[Little Pete]

Straighten the bent push rod (Mopar solid rods are tough), probably bent on backfire. May never happen again, see you at Carlisle.

I hope to see you guys at Carlisle. If nothing else I'm bringing the other 65 Monaco and going to try to sell it. Good solid rust free TX car, but I need to try and get it out of my driveway. I can't possibly manage 2 car projects at this time and hate to see that car sit around. Would like someone else to enjoy it.

 

[Davea Lux]

I hope to see you guys at Carlisle. If nothing else I'm bringing the other 65 Monaco and going to try to sell it. Good solid rust free TX car, but I need to try and get it out of my driveway. I can't possibly manage 2 car projects at this time and hate to see that car sit around. Would like someone else to enjoy it.

The ones that get away are always the ones you miss the most later in life.

Dave

 

[Little Pete]

Going through this same thing on the 73T&C right now. 2 bent rods and one just hanging out (lost contact with rocker arm). The spacers were worn out, causing a lot of slop at cylinders that had the bent rods. After a trip to Mancini Racing (stock parts....in stock!), the spacers, rocker arms and push rods going in this afternoon.

View attachment 190428

Sorry to hear of your problem. Glad to hear that everything is going back together for you with the 73 T&C, one of my favorite years as well.

You said (spacers), am I missing something? What spacers are you referring to?

 

[Little Pete]

The unleaded fuels of the mid to late '70's trashed a lot of exhaust valves. Car probably had a valve job at some point.

Dave

Maybe the 2nd owner just did it to replace valve seats? Lead/unleaded? Agreed about the unleaded fuels!

 

[Little Pete]

The ones that get away are always the ones you miss the most later in life.

Dave

That's true Dave. I have 3 project cars right now. I have 2 very nice 65 Monaco's, and then I have the daughter's 86 SVO Mustang I have been working on also. About ready to push it out of the garage. Don't ask! If it wasn't my 15 year old daughter's dream car it wouldn't be in the garage consuming my time Dave. Trust me, I'm not a big Ford fan. Though I must admit, it's been a very strange weird project. Almost done with it though.

I hate to sell the other Monaco, because it is so nice. So many parts I'd like to rob off of it (chrome. etc) just can't bring myself to do so. Though your probably right, I'll regret selling it. It is nice to have another Monaco to compare things to. Though I think it's a very early Monaco, some weird stuff on that TX car.

 

[Davea Lux]

Maybe the 2nd owner just did it to replace valve seats? Lead/unleaded? Agreed about the unleaded fuels!

In the mid to late 70's, most of the time the valve seats would not have been replaced the first time around. As time went on, severe erosion of the valve seats required the addition of "hard seat" inserts which is still the standard for these older heads today. The valve guides and valve stems also wore out much faster with the unleaded fuels of that era. A valve job today would include new valves, new bronze guides and new seats. A lot of shops will also install new valve springs.

Dave

 

[Davea Lux]

That's true Dave. I have 3 project cars right now. I have 2 very nice 65 Monaco's, and then I have the daughter's 86 SVO Mustang I have been working on also. About ready to push it out of the garage. Don't ask! If it wasn't my 15 year old daughter's dream car it wouldn't be in the garage consuming my time Dave. Trust me, I'm not a big Ford fan. Though I must admit, it's been a very strange weird project. Almost done with it though.

I hate to sell the other Monaco, because it is so nice. So many parts I'd like to rob off of it (chrome. etc) just can't bring myself to do so. Though your probably right, I'll regret selling it. It is nice to have another Monaco to compare things to. Though I think it's a very early Monaco, some weird stuff on that TX car.

I was working for a Chrysler/Plymouth dealership and in the mid '70's a lot of high performance cars started coming in in trade. At that time they were not worth diddly squat because of gas shortages and higher fuel prices. One day a guy came in with a '70 Plymouth Superbird, red, 4 speed hemi car, 36k, traded it straight across for a well equipped '74 plymouth fury; he had gotten married and needed a family car. Sales manager offered it to me for $5k, I turned him down. Still kicking myself.

Dave

 

[Little Pete]

In the mid to late 70's, most of the time the valve seats would not have been replaced the first time around. As time went on, severe erosion of the valve seats required the addition of "hard seat" inserts which is still the standard for these older heads today. The valve guides and valve stems also wore out much faster with the unleaded fuels of that era. A valve job today would include new valves, new bronze guides and new seats. A lot of shops will also install new valve springs.

Dave

I still need to solve my current problem, though a valve job was next on my list. I will be curious when I start looking more into this over the weekend where my road will lead. I hate having to troubleshoot problems like this but it is always interesting to learn more about such problems. I wouldn't be opposed to a valve job, but just wasn't ready financially for it. Though we'll see where this takes me.

 

[Little Pete]

I was working for a Chrysler/Plymouth dealership and in the mid '70's a lot of high performance cars started coming in in trade. At that time they were not worth diddly squat because of gas shortages and higher fuel prices. One day a guy came in with a '70 Plymouth Superbird, red, 4 speed hemi car, 36k, traded it straight across for a well equipped '74 plymouth fury; he had gotten married and needed a family car. Sales manager offered it to me for $5k, I turned him down. Still kicking myself.

Dave

Wow! Now that is probably one of the worst kick myself stories I've heard in a long time Dave, especially when you added the 426 Hemi piece. To me though Dave, just having the opportunity to work at the Chrysler dealership at that time is amazing in itself though. I am sure you have some great stories and gained some amazing experience from that job. You should consider yourself lucky just in that regard!

 

[Little Pete]

If this is the HP 383 about 150 PSI (most 4 Barrels), the standard 383 more like 125 PSI (Most 2BBL). They should all be within 10 PSI of each other. If you have any bent valves, it will be Zero on that cylinder..

Dave

It's the 383 4 bbl. Another problem will have eventually is that the timing marker is rusty and hard to see the mark. Going to have to fix that too.

 

[Davea Lux]

It's the 383 4 bbl. Another problem will have eventually is that the timing marker is rusty and hard to see the mark. Going to have to fix that too.

View attachment 190523

View attachment 190525

Put some white out or a chalk line in the groove on the harmonic balancer. Clean up the tab on the timing cover. On your '65 the lead mark is either 10 or 12 degrees, use that as an index to determine the slop in your chain.

Dave

 

[Little Pete]

Put some white out or a chalk line in the groove on the harmonic balancer. Clean up the tab on the timing cover. On your '65 the lead mark is either 10 or 12 degrees, use that as an index to determine the slop in your chain.

Dave

Awesome Dave! I will do it, hopefully will be able to solve a few different problems with fixing this one problem. Thanks!