Hot Rods oil pan bits

Pulled the 460 on my 57 removed the pan and found these in the bottom. There steel about 1/8" square. All six of them are pretty much exactly the same size. I have the heads off also and they look fine as in no broken parts. The cylinder walls also look great, no scrapes, gouges. Had good oil pressure before I pulled it out.
The irregular shaped one is aluminum, also a mystery.

Thoughts?

 

looks like part of the oil pump drive system, the round thing that the hex shaft goes into?

but that's just a wild guess

 

Hey Jim,
SWAG,,,,,scientific wild ass guess,,,,,old engineering term,,,LoL .

Tommy

 

Timing chain gear teeth?

Did Ford use a nylon timing gear with embedded steel teeth that are now falling out?

 

Valve keepers ?

are the little bits broken ?
Can they be assembled into a shape ?

out of the oil pump ?

past repair and debris left behind ?

strange looking

 

I agree, they look kinda like valve keepers but I'm thinking there'd be a lot more shrapnel in the pan if that many keepers found their way to the basement

 

Any wear points on them?

 

The heads are still together and everything is where it should be. The roller rockers are fine also.

It has double roller style gear and chain and it's undamaged.

I thought it may have been part of a seal that came apart but it's not that.

The oil pump shaft and the oil pump itself are good shape and turn freely.

Could be a past repair, but I dont remember actually repairing anything like this.

It kinda looks like it was something that worked it's way out and snipped off in pieces with engine running. I'm guessing also.

 

Broken roller's from the double roller timing chain? Look real close at the chain. Should be bigger than 1/8 inch tho.

 

Those pieces sort of look like parts of a cast iron valve guide but it would help to have some sort of size reference in the picture. Also flip them around so we can see all sides

 

You have one of those cam gears that can be advanced or retarded with a bushing change?

 

Hey Rmk57 ,
Does it have a roller chain with solid bushings or split bushings ?
Those kind of resemble split bushings that have come apart ?

Tommy

 

Hex pieces from distributor shaft..

 

No, it's a 9-position keyway.

Nope. It's an ARP unit and it looks like new.

All the bushings, links are accounted for. Same for the sprocket, thrust plate, fuel pump eccentric.

I'm going to cut the oil filter apart tomorrow but don't expect to find anything.

 

What is the shape of the six pieces, viewed from the "end"? Is either side flat, or are they curved, or what?

 

Curved slightly. Odd thing is their almost identical in length and shape.

 

Both sides are curved? How thick, if so?

Looks like there are little spikes sticking out of the ends of some of them, also...

 

Exhaust valve tip lash caps; well broken.

 

Don't have lash caps. There Edelbrock RPM heads that are basically untouched.

The spikes are an illusion, piece of grit on the printing paper. Thickness, guessing at 20-22 gauge.
It almost looks like it was part of a roller bearing or something like that. Non engine related.


The engine has been together for 7 years with lots of quarter mile passes. The only time I've had to do anything would be valve lash adjustment. Maybe something came apart with rocker cover off and washed down the drain back holes? I have no idea.

 

Did you ever have the engine apart before the aftermarket heads were installed? Possibly from the previous heads if not.

 

Poison pills from a SBC competitor thrown into the carb ........well I hope it made you laugh a little......

 

Well crap, those parts are Canadien.... I know nothing about foreign cars!

 

This is my vote also...

 

Someone hates you and threw these into your oil fill when you weren't looking?
Over the years, I found all kinds of on stuff in oil pans.
Bizzarre - what was the reason you pulled the pan?

 

The last one I had apart was my current 350.. all sorts of mystery crap in that including a busted off 5/32" drill bit.

 

When is the last time the pan was off ? Many things could have happened between now & then ..

 

Those look like the little 'clickers' (I think they are called pawls) that Briggs & Stratton uses on their starter cord recoils.

Does or did this 460 ever have a pull-start option

 

No. The whole long block was assembled at the same time. I had the heads off a year ago to do some work on them.

The pan hasn't been off since the engine was assembled 7 years ago.

If it were the pieces from the oil pump drive shaft falling apart I wouldn't have had any oil pressure.
The pump and related parts are like new.

I haven't had a real up close look at the heads yet. It could be one of the edges of the valve spring cups come apart......but I doubt that also.

Whatever they are they didn't go through the engine.

 

I was thinking it might be the end of the distributor shaft, which fits around the hex shaft that goes to the oil pump. But if the "inside" of the mystery parts is not flat, then it's something else. I still haven't seen an "end" view of the parts.

 

If possible take a caliper to them to see if they are close enough in size to have come out of what Jim suggests.