All Small Six 1961 Falcon 170 ci

[rickymtus]

Hi all,

I picked up a 31,000 original mile falcon that had been sitting in a garage since the 80s. Oil change sticker still in the door from 1961 with 22,000 miles on it. I did all the normal responsible things prior to starting it and it runs pretty good. Had some clicking noise so I pulled the valve cover and all of the rockers are loose - very loose. First thought was stuck hydraulic lifters but from what I read they are solid lifters. Before I pull the engine for what I hope is an easy rebuild I thought I would see if anyone had other thoughts. Also not a lot of oil coming up through the head and a descent amount of “sludge” on the head surfaces.

 

[B RON CO]

Hi, sounds like a great find.
I would do the normal brake and front end safety checks, the fluids and tuneup, and adjust the valves. If you have a compression tester use it.
Then have fun.
Why are you thinking about an engine rebuild?
Good luck

 

[bubba22349]

Congrats on getting your Falcon sounds like a really nice car. Since you have the valve cover off clean off all the sludge from the top of the head check that the oil drain back hole is open down through the block. Next disassemble the rocker arm assembly (there are two soft plugs you can pull out to get access so you can clean out the inside of the shaft good so it will oil each rocker arm this isn't really a lot of oil but it needs to have some at each rocker arm and tge top of each valve tip. Then set those solid lifters to .016 hot solid lifters will make a little noise that ps normal. You can also use some Justice Brothers engine flush to clean out the rest of the sludge from the inside of the engine within two to three oil changes it will be very clean. Best of luck on your 1961 Falcon

 

[Rheacox]

Definitely a good idea to inspect/clean the rocker shaft. There’s also a procedure outlined in Ford literature somewhere to clean out and check flow to the shaft, someone here will know. This is what came out of my 144. Car had been parked since the 70’s with 73k miles of neglect on the clock.