Technical Rocker oil line on outside

So I picked up the '58 235 from a guy and it has a line T-ed off from the oil pressure sender, around the front of the engine into the passenger side of the head. Is this sufficient for rocker shaft oiling? I thought the 235 did away with the tube behind the pushrod cover by '58 but I just read something from a very reliable source on Chevytalk that said it wasn't taken away until '59 or maybe he said '60..? On another note, I pulled all the pushrods and 1 was different from the rest. Can I switch that pushrod with a new one or do they seat themselves to the lifter/rocker?

 

Get one more pushrod to match the 11. Might check the lifters (don't mix 'em up) for alikeness since your engine is a mix of early/late parts. You didn't mention if hydraulic or solid. Rocker tips and valve stem tips are usually worn - look them over, too.
That's plenty of oil for the top end.

 

I tried to pull the lifters but I couldn't get a good enough grip on them. They would pull out a bit, stick then my fingers would slip off. They do all look the same, for the half inch or so I could get them out at least. It has solid lifters as far as I know, being a truck motor. Should it have the tube behind the side cover? I realize it's not necessary with the other line being there but if it's missing I'd like to get another one.

 

Hard telling what you have there. The Chev truck and manual trans pass. 235 lifter is shaped like a milk can & just slides out unless the lobe/tappet wear is extreme.

 

Normally when I look at an old motor especially a 6and even when they were not this old yet, if there was external oil going to the rockers (yes it was a common work around) it is an indication that oil was not getting to the top end in the original fashion. It works but it is a red flag.

*Lifters do not always come out easy that is why they used to sell a little tool with fingers that stuck out that you stuck in the top of the lifter. Some times it is the oil creating a vacuum or others it is as @302GMC suggested that camshaft end is mushroomed. That is a cam and lifter change in most instances, (or a V-8 engine swap. )

* @302GMC interesting that you called them tappets a term you don't often hear. Cam followers is another one.

 

I thought they stopped using the milk bottle lifters in '55 or so? Looking through Google images of '58 solid lifters, they look like earlier powerglide lifters. What can I grab the with to pull them out without destroying them?

 

^^^^^
Thanks for the info - haven't worked on many of the newer versions.
K-D & Lisle used to make lifter pullers ...

 

I haven't worked on one newer than '54 until I picked this one up lol. I liked the milk bottle lifters since they gave you something to pull by. I have no idea how to get these out since they're smooth all the way up

 

The engines without the oil line behind the sidecover used a special head bolt that is milled to allow oil to flow past it. Many times when the head is pulled its installed in the wrong location.

 

Like has been said an oil line to the rocker arms is an indication of oil pressure problems

 

Old engines get a buildup of baked on sludge at the bottom of the lifters. This can make them very hard to get out. Better leave them be unless you are taking the engine apart for a rebuild.

 

When did they stop using the oil line behind the cover? I know my oil return tube (in the middle of the rocker shaft) isn't pinched off, if that means anything

 

I don't rightly know when they did the change over from the oilline to the special bolt. I owned a 57 two ton. with a 261 that had the full flow oil filter and the special headbolt. The oil return tube being pinched or not pinched has no bearing on the rocker oil supply system.

 

Interesting.

 

I pulled the rocker shafts and they're nice and clean inside. I then pulled the distributor and ran the oil pump with a drill and oil was flowing like crazy out of the rocker arm holes so oil flow is definitely sufficient. The arms do have alot of play on the shafts so I'm going to either hopefully find a suitable replacement at the junkyard, pull mine off my '51 235 or buy a rebuilt set from chevs of the 40s

 

I bought a $3 magnet at Oreillys to get my lifters out when I tore down the 235 for the rebuild. The telescoping kind. Took a few taptaptaps to loosen them up and some PB.

 

rmonty is right on the money on getting the lifters out. an old man(I thought) who was a chev mech from 39-69 showed me that trick in 64 on my 53

 

Do you guys think I can add my '51s oil filter to this motor with it having the oil line already T'ed in or, will that be too many things going on there?

 

Before you spend money on new rockers (rebuilt) Mic your shaft, not only where the rockers ride but where it is not in a wear situation. I have seen more than one engine with shaft rockers over the years that shaft wear was the offender. A new shaft tightened things right up.

 

I just got back from the junkyard and I got a rocker setup from another Chevy pickup with the 848 head and the 4 bolt valve cover so I know the year range is right. The front half of the engine had pretty much the same rocker wear as the motor I have now but the rear half was almost perfect. Here are the numbers I came up with (horizontal/vertical) with my mic. F is the front side of the rocker and R is the rear side. The bottom F and R are the shafts. 8, 9 and 10 were almost exactly the same for both measurements so I didn't bother to record them. I have no idea how much of a difference is acceptable, if any at all. Now, can I use the rear half of the rocker assembly on my motor with the existing pushrods or do they establish a wear pattern like cams and lifters? I figure with them not pressing together continuously, it should be ok but figured I'd ask here first.

 

Naw you can mix pushrods up as long as they are the correct length. Pretty sure they never changed the length of the pushrods in a 235.

 

Alright, good deal. I'm gonna clean the rear rocker assembly I just picked up and pop it on the motor. I may try and swap a few of the good arms from the front shaft onto the existing front assembly, if I can get the others off the shaft

 

Those rockers are not all the same, be careful about swapping them. Maybe you know this already!!

http://www.1954advance-design.com/Web images/1958-60-rocker-oil/1958-rocker-arm-lubrication.html

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1954truck/54ctsm0611.html

 

I'd replace the exact rockers if I did it

 

A lot of times just turning the lifter back and forth a bit while pulling up on it makes them come out a lot easier. There is normally a buildup of brown carbon junk around the bottom circumference of the lifter that increases it's diameter beyond the bore size. I've not messed with a 235 since the 70's, but have been into more than my share of Buick Straight 8's that have had this issue. I'll move the lifter up as high as I can, and then use a pair of leather-jawed channellocks (An Ebbs Speed Shop creation) to grab on to the top of the lifter, and rotate it back and forth a bit while lifting, and 79 times out of 80 they will come out quite handily. The rotating scrubs off the carbon crap at the base of the lifter.

 

Maybe I'll make myself a similar tool and see how it goes. I'm picturing it looking kinda like a little oil filter wrench

 

The first article says that if you use '58 and older rocker arms on newer engines, you have to use the drilled headbolt to restrict oil so it won't squirt oil out of the rocker arm hole. The rocker arms I picked up today are the '59 and newer style with the groove inside the rocker offset from the hole. So what's the thought on using the newer style arms on an older engine? Think it'll be ok with the offset groove?

 

I have never had to deal with that problem so I don't know what it will do. What I was concerned about is the fact that there are 4 different part numbers for a set of rockers and they all must go in the proper place on the shaft as described on the other link.

Take a look here & it might help answer your question about mixing rockers:

http://www.inliners.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=81977

It looks like they modified the rockers in '59 for better oiling. There was a block passage modification also.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1959trucksup/59ctsms0804.html

 

Does anyone have a solid cam 235 they want to check something for me on? Can someone grab a (or all of the) rocker arm and see if it has any play on the shaft?

 

You can just wrap a strip of leather or rubber around the exposed top portion of the lifter and grab it with channellocks or similar pliers.