Need some help guys. I have an unknown vintage gen I 350 with a touch too much cam for the rearend in my '83 Wagon. Got the thing from a rusted out '86 Elcamino for $750. Ran pretty good but smoked a little when I brought it home. The shop that did my swap for me, well, we had some issues, or rather they did. That problem is no longer there. Anyway, the #2 intake pushrod was completely broken and all the rest were wrenched in so tight they felt like they were put on with an impact. I had zero oil pressure at idle until I backed them off. The shop replaced the broken rod but I noticed when I swapped valve covers that the rest of them seem to be a touch cockeyed as well. I have replacements just haven't gotten around to putting them in yet. Not driving the car cause I don't want to go through the hassle of swapping another engine. Can't afford it anyway. It was running great with just the typical start up smoke for a car that sits for a while, and did sit for a couple of years, before I swapped the covers but I switched the PCV valve and the breather element side to side. It doesn't stop smoking now. Not a whole lot but enough to worry me. I can do minor stuff but physically I can't do the major stuff anymore. Could swapping the PCV/Breather element around be causing some of this? I know the push rod deal is just from past experience hence the not driving until I get them switched. Any ideas?
350 Bent pushrods and smoking
- Thread starter JDMitch32
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Well, I pulled the cover tonight and what did I spy with my little eye? #2 exhaust was COMPLETELY turned sideways. It was so jammed on one side that it compressed the spring enough for half the lock to come out. Good thing the parts houses around here loan tools. Checked the rest on the passenger side and the #8 exhaust was about ready to slide off so I went ahead and swapped that one and it goes TINK, TINK, TINK across a flat surface 
. Just 13 more to go. 
. Just 13 more to go. 
Some of that info is a little confusing, but if I were you I would pull all the rockers and pushrods off check all the pushrods (rolling them on a piece of glass works good). If I had to guess I would say they had the lash zeroed out in the lifters. A cheap stock pushrod set might be in order for you, when you put it back together set the lash one turn past touching on the pushrods (assuming it has a hydraulic cam in it). If it has a solid cam in it, you might want to just change the cam or at least get the number off the end of it. Hopefully this is all that's wrong.
Do you need guide plates? Have you tried running it with the valve cover off to see what's happening in there?
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I wonder if someone just cranked them down to a certain torque like the newer non-adjustable rockers. They were way too tight, and it broke stuff. Sounds like from your post you are going to need new rockers and push rods at a min. If this is a flat tappet cam, I wouldn't be surprised if it screwed up one or more of the lobes as well. The off the shelf oils are not very flat tappet friendly these days.
I agree seawolf, this might end up needing a lot of investigating on your part. If the budget allows a cam kit, a set of pushrods, and rockers would be the best way to ensure you fixed everything. Figuring out if your cam is a solid lifter can could be tricky without pulling it out if your not real familiar with what to do.
Thanks guys. Nothing fancy about this set up. Just a bigger hydro cam than I want. That is gonna change when I get the cash to change it. I wanna go with a retrofit roller but that's a big chunk of change. Just a basic Flat Tappet with very few miles for now. Like I said, the shop that did the swap was supposed to have changed ALL the push rods. I knew before I took it to them that they were over tightened. They didn't so I am having to do it myself. For me it's a SLOW process. Physically impaired so I can't stay bent over the fender long enough to swap them all at once. Starting with the basics. New Rods. Get them swapped, set and see. If I need to make changes I will. The bends are such that you can't really see it unless you are right on it. I mean just enough to throw everything out of line. The #8 that I changed last, you couldn't even see that it was bent but the rocker was trying to move off to the side. You could hear it when I rolled it across a flat surface. They are all way overtightened. As for guide plates, I shouldn't need them. You may be right seawolf. My money's on someone not really knowing what the hell they were doing when they put that cam in. There were way to many things that didn't line up when I got the thing. Once I get them all swapped I'll run it and see what's what before I button it all back up. It just makes such a big mess without the covers. Thinking about cutting the tops off the old covers to keep the oil off the headers.
Thats a good sign that the push rods are not dramatically bent. A chopped up set of valve covers is what I used to use when I had to adjust valves. I've read some write ups where they did it without the engine running, but I couldn't seem to get them set correctly, so I just when back to the old way.
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