I'm disassembling a 1955 Chevy 235. One of the pushrods was bent but the valve stem wasn't bent and it wasn't binding in the guide. My question is "what caused the pushrod to bend" it bent right above the head at about a 70 degree angle. Any info would be appreciated.
Were you driving when it bent? or is it an old engine that you haven't seen run? We could guess all day long...but there isn't much to go on.
No, I bought the truck knowing the motor needed rebuilding. It's a 1955 first series 6400 stakebed. Has a single 2 speed rear axle and a dump bed. I paid $500, figured if the truck was junk I could get my money back at the scrapyard
Pretty hard to say what caused it. I don't suppose you took pictures before you took it apart the rest of the way?
I had a 48 Chevy that did exactly that. I was getting ready to load it on the trailer to take it to the swap meet in Des Moines (mid 90's) and it didn't run right. A friend was there to help me load it and when it wasn't running right he guessed that there was a valve issue. The car was seldom driven and had stuck a valve, He tapped the valve to loosen it up, laid the push rod on the floor and started tapping it until it was straight (enough) put it back in and the car was fine. This is the same guy that almost burned my shop down, bought a carburetor for me that dropped a screw into the engine and lunched it and burned up my TV messing with it. This was one of those times (and one of many....that he did good!)
I didn't take any pictures but nothing was out of the ordinary. The rocker moved easily, I suppose the lifter might have siezed. I haven't torn into the engine that far yet.
While I'm on here I need the brake shoes for the emergency brake. It's the drum style mounted on the driveshaft. 55 Chevy 6400 manual transmission. Haven't been able to locate a supplier.