Early hemi pushrod lengths and lifters

I have looked in the searches, and no specific stuff on this. I have a 51 hemi in my old Imperial. I tried turning it over today, and wallah, it spins! The oil is clean. But, here is the mystery. Three pushrods are not getting a push, so I either have three flat cam lobes or the lifters jumped out of their holes. I was able to remove the pushrods by hand, as they easily came out by wiggling them past the rockers. Before I tear this guy apart, can anyone tell me what might be wrong? I can get to the lifters by pulling the manifold and valley pan, no problem there. Oh, and pushrod question; are the pushrods two different sizes? 2 measure 8 1/2 inches, and one is just about 10 inches. thanks guys, I just know someone will come through on this. ron or gimme a call 270 886 7933

 

Intake and exhaust use different length pushrods and your measurements sound about right.

I would turn the engine over and see if the lifter shell is moving up and down with the cam.

A flat cam lobe would put metal into the oil... Check your filter element for metal.

 

If it has been sitting a long time perhaps the lifter has collapsed. The oil has run out. You may need to remove the lifters. Eyeball the cam and lifter face. If all seems correct, put the lifters on a bucket of clean oil and try to pump them up. Perhaps you could remove the distributer and drive gear and spin the oil pump to pump up the lifters. That's where I would start.

 

If you pull lifters, keep them in order. Best to reinstall on original lobe. If you install new lifters, go through the break in procedure using good ZDDP oil.