Out it comes...

JFCDeuce · Post by **JFCDeuce** » December 12, 2007, 1:01 am

Well it was fun for a while... I fired the truck up last night and it sounded like there is a ball bearing or 3 in my valvecover and then in the oil pan, then it stopped making noise I coaxed it home about a 10 min drive, but one or twice the noises were there.... I'n not looking forward to tearing it down... but uou gotta do what you gotta do. Wish me luck. I guess it's just a good chance to clean it all up again right?

blackagatha · Post by **blackagatha** » December 12, 2007, 2:37 am

dude. That sucks...

Post by **Greg D** » December 12, 2007, 7:45 pm

Sounds like a pushrod or two to me. My 223 has bent 5 of them in the last 2 years. NAPA carries them, $3.99 each. I keep a couple spares on hand, till I get the 302 in it anyway.

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » December 12, 2007, 10:07 pm

Greg D wrote:Sounds like a pushrod or two to me. My 223 has bent 5 of them in the last 2 years. NAPA carries them, $3.99 each. I keep a couple spares on hand, till I get the 302 in it anyway.

why do you keep bending them?

jakdad · Post by **jakdad** » December 12, 2007, 11:10 pm

Might need to get Crane or Comp Cams to make you a set.

Post by **Greg D** » December 12, 2007, 11:13 pm

ICEMAN6166 wrote:
Greg D wrote:Sounds like a pushrod or two to me. My 223 has bent 5 of them in the last 2 years. NAPA carries them, $3.99 each. I keep a couple spares on hand, till I get the 302 in it anyway.

why do you keep bending them?

This engine is so tired I am surprised it still runs, lol
For one thing the rockers won't hold adjustment.

JFCDeuce · Post by **JFCDeuce** » December 13, 2007, 2:28 am

[quote}
why do you keep bending them?[/quote]
This engine is so tired I am surprised it still runs, lol
For one thing the rockers won't hold adjustment.[/quote]

My valve lash has been pretty good since I changed out the rockers, I think it may have been a push rod, I'm working to much to find the time to start tearing it down. It would make sense givven the erraticacy of the noise.

fmartin_gila · Post by **fmartin_gila** » December 13, 2007, 9:02 am

Couple of years ago, I got a bunch of regular adjusters with lock nuts and installed them in the self locking rockers(the rockers have regular threads in them, the adjusters have something odd about the threads to make them self locking), I have not had to adjust them since. If anyone does this, remember that there were two different lenghts of the adjusters with lock nuts, Use the short ones.
Fred

jakdad · Post by **jakdad** » December 13, 2007, 9:55 am

I think those are called "interference fit". During hard times, we would take them out, put'em on the concrete and gently whak'em with a hammer. They would work for awhile longer, then eventually have to be replaced.

JFCDeuce · Post by **JFCDeuce** » December 15, 2007, 6:34 pm

Well, I got the valve cover off, and all in there is as it should be, I decided I should fire it up to see if any of the push rods may be bent... I turned the key...and nothing but a big whiring sound...

I decided to check the flywheel (it's brand new, but I'd had starter issues before.) The inspection plate cover looked about like a old junker left in a midwestern corn field (full of little holes) Turns out the starter drive had shattered and was hitting the pressure plate and geting thrown around inside the bell housing.... at least the starter's a chaper fix.

Post by **Greg D** » December 17, 2007, 5:27 pm

Well after replacing my pushrods last week, I went through the valve lash 3 TIMES. I warmed the truck up Saturday and moved it to clean the snow off the drive.
Today I drove it to work running on bout 5 cylinders, ate another pushrod or 2! :cussing:

I am NOT fixing it again, I'm done. If I have to I'll put a stock Windsor in the truck just to get it going again and then worry about my 347 later (which I am still tempted to put in the vert).
Gonna have some 223 parts for sale soon.

The Big M · Post by **The Big M** » December 17, 2007, 6:18 pm

I may be interested, Greg, depending on what you have. That sucks that you're having so much trouble with it. I'm determined to keep my 223, but I do have a roller 302 as a backup if need be.

I've thought of building a 347 or 331 myself. What's the story with yours? Have you run it yet? How much power do you expect to make, and do you think it'll perform well in your truck?

Post by **Greg D** » December 17, 2007, 7:36 pm

I have 2 302s, Performer 289 intake & carb, and a few other odds & ends, gonna build one of them into a 347. I haven't really done anything except pick out my parts combination right now. I don't have the room in the garage to get started until I get the vert out of there. I have it apart right now for some body work and a new head. I'm not in a big hurry with the 347 though, don't need it together til spring. Shooting to have a V8 in the Uni by April. I was going to get it done by February but the vert' 2.3 cracked it's head and kinda rearranged my schedule. This is what I am looking at so far with a pair of GT-40 heads. I may need a kit with different pistons with the cam I am running though.

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku

http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch ... 4294840126

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku

MadMaxetc · Post by **MadMaxetc** » December 17, 2007, 9:29 pm

Hey greg,

I have that 223 in the garage if you want I can take the rockers off of it and ship them to you. (Pushrods too)

I am just going to scrap the engine, so they are yours if you want them.

(You have a steering wheel you want to trade?)

Duece,

Glad you found the problem, did the parts do much damage?

Post by **Greg D** » December 17, 2007, 10:29 pm

Thanks Dan, I may have to consider that for the time being to keep her running. I do drive the truck some. I don't have a steering wheel, the ones I had were too far gone to be worth restoring so they left with the 64 carcass. Let me see what I can come up with though.

MadMaxetc · Post by **MadMaxetc** » December 17, 2007, 11:19 pm

Greg D wrote:Thanks Dan, I may have to consider that for the time being to keep her running. I do drive the truck some. I don't have a steering wheel, the ones I had were too far gone to be worth restoring so they left with the 64 carcass. Let me see what I can come up with though.

Thats cool. I am off all next week untill the 2nd, so just let me know. (that may be the only time I have to take it off.

The Big M,

Do you want any spare parts? The engine burned a lot of oil, but ran fine when I took it out.

JFCDeuce · Post by **JFCDeuce** » December 18, 2007, 1:04 am

there's a chance I might need the entire head...

As far as the shattered starter drive... it screwed up the flywheel cover something fiece, but it looks to have left the rest well enough alone (the pressure plate housing has a few scratches in it now) I will prpbably take the clutch off too to make sure I didn't get a lot of metal shavings in there. the drive scratched a lot of metal up.

The Big M · Post by **The Big M** » December 18, 2007, 10:38 am

MadMaxetc wrote:
The Big M,

Do you want any spare parts? The engine burned a lot of oil, but ran fine when I took it out.

Possibly, but I don't want to get ahead of myself since I still haven't fired mine yet and I'm in the middle of a move.

I could use a good truck-specific water pump, I suppose, since my 223 came from a '59 passenger car (the fan interferes with the crossmember). Other than that I'm actually doing pretty well for spare parts. I've got a spare head, crank, rods, generator, distributor, carb, and just about everything I need for a complete rebuild.

BTW, I still have that '63 grill. I just need to take the upper and lower valances off. I'll have to get you some pics...

Alright, enough hijacking. JFCDeuce, I hope the damage is fixable. Your 223 is pretty sweet. Good luck!

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » December 18, 2007, 1:25 pm

The Big M wrote:
MadMaxetc wrote:I could use a good truck-specific water pump, I suppose, since my 223 came from a '59 passenger car (the fan interferes with the crossmember).

are you sure the spacer between the fan and pump is not the issue? there are several thicknesses made perhaps the car and truck used different sizes.
i can tell you the ones on the 223s i have are very thin, less than an inch.

also have an old 50s car here with a 223. never looked at that specific part but now i think i should.

The Big M · Post by **The Big M** » December 18, 2007, 3:33 pm

No, I can't say that I am 100% sure. I'll look into that!

The car water pumps are definitely different shape, but I didn't investigate to see if there was a difference in the spacer thickness. I have one of each so I'll have to compare more closely. I'm wondering if the fan has a shorter shaft on the car version...

Out it comes...

Out it comes...

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