So this sucks

[greenmachine]

Driving home after a 96 hour shift. Just putting down the road. Horrible noise. Shut it down immediately. Towed home and found this. Still in investigation stage. Looking a Harland sharp and smith brothers push rods. Possible coil bind. More info to come. Less than 500 miles.

 

[Cranky]

Ouch

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Something definitely wasn't right... Sure woulda been nice to find that before running the engine...

 

[greenmachine]

I hope I didn’t gak a piston with a valve.

 

[Lefty71]

Whats the build specs?? Pushrods were way too short... maybe hitting the tunnel on the way down at that length. Also, it looks like maybe the broken cup made contact in a bad way and broke the rocker. HTH, Lefty71

 

[Cranky]

Are those rockers HS?

 

[gkent]

An awful lot of thread showing on those adjusters !! And those don't look like HS rockers to me ... wrong color - those are gold, HS's are copper colored

 

[beanhead]

Aw man that's a major bummer. I hope there's no bearing or deeper damage. I doubt it would have been coil bind, unless all your springs were right on the edge of it?I'd look at each lifter, pushrod length and valve adjustment carefully..And looking at the other pictures, Stanton and Lefty are spot on, too many adjuster threads showing. So either the pushrods are way too short and/or you had way too much preload (if hydraulic lifters). With the adjusters out there now 0-1 thread is ideal.

 

[greenmachine]

The rockers are crane gold 1.5s. Not sure on brand of push rods. I was saying I will be upgrading to Harland sharp rockers and smith brothers pushrods. Motor is a 71 motor home block, just cleaned up walls. 10.25/1 CR, bullet solid roller cam. 906 heads, m1 intake, qft 750, Doug’s 1”7/8” ceramic coated headers.
My engine builder went MIA on me. So I am on my own. Learning about rocker arm geometry right now.

 

[beanhead]

Start with B3 racing's tech articles. For the valve side we really need to move the shaft but that doesn't affect the pushrod side. Ideally you want the pushrod length such that you have 0-1 adjuster threads peeking out, with your desired lifter preload. Minimal adjuster thread gives best oiling and strength, OR you can go to a ball/ball pushrod and a cup-style adjuster and oil through the pushrods, that's a little different setup though but also works well. Good luck keep us posted!

 

[33 IMP]

Pull the intake and check your roller lifters . I did the same thing, too short pushrods, gacked a pushrod, flipped one roller of the pair out, the other turned and chewed up the cam. I had to regrind the cam and get a new pair of lifters. Coincidentally (or maybe not) i was using crane gold rockers too.
Edit. .200 longer pushrods solved my problem.

 

[greenmachine]

Start with B3 racing's tech articles. For the valve side we really need to move the shaft but that doesn't affect the pushrod side. Ideally you want the pushrod length such that you have 0-1 adjuster threads peeking out, with your desired lifter preload. Minimal adjuster thread gives best oiling and strength, OR you can go to a ball/ball pushrod and a cup-style adjuster and oil through the pushrods, that's a little different setup though but also works well. Good luck keep us posted!

That's exactly the site I am studying. I am also talking to Don from 4secondsflat.com. He built my distributor and is super knowledgeable.

 

[greenmachine]

Pull the intake and check your roller lifters . I did the same thing, too short pushrods, gacked a pushrod, flipped one roller of the pair out, the other turned and chewed up the cam. I had to regrind the cam and get a new pair of lifters. Coincidentally (or maybe not) i was using crane gold rockers too.
Edit. .200 longer pushrods solved my problem.

Yea, after I get everything else set up I will buy an adjustable pushrod to measure exactly what fits. Any recommendations for an adjustable pushrod? This sucks, was looking forward to driving the car this fall. Just got my plates.

 

[beanhead]

Adjustable pushrods are at Summit and I'm sure all the other usual places (comp cams brand), just make sure it's got the proper ends for the type of pushrod you'll be using and can be adjusted long enough to cover the distance it needs to.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

In the pictures what is the little black disc? Is it part of the pushrod?

If the pushrod is bent but complete I'd hammer it straight, cut about 1.5" out of it & thread the two remaining ends... Add so all-thread & there's your length checking pushrod... Exactly how I made mine...

 

[33 IMP]

My crane rockers use a 3/8-24 thread , so each thread is about .040 (actual .041 2/3), so if you have six threads showing under the rocker, and you want 1-2, five less threads is .200 roughly. I doubt anyone will make you .208 longer. Most custom length pushrods vary by .050.
Worked for me.
I would certainly talk to B3 first though, about his correction. Ive got some old iron max heads that need stands, if i have to buy stands, i might as well get them moved to the right place.

 

[Dennis H]

What RPM at failure? I busted one overreving. For me that’s anything over 6k. Bought Mantons, but never put them in.

 

[gkent]

He could use any one of his good pushrods to make a "checker" pushrod - they're all too short anyway !!

 

[Ironbuilt]

Sorry for your bad luck. The fact that your engine builder is MIA speaks volumes to me. Open that 440 up and go through everything. Better to spend now and get it right then break again in the future. Good luck.

 

[wyrmrider]

ask b3 about which pushrod to use with proper adjuster
I am thinking ball and ball drilled for oil with cup type adjusters
let me know what your find
when racing we oiled through the pushrod to lube the adjusters
some say otherwise