223 in 63 Galaxie project and question

bubba22349 said:
HI 63Boxtop, your Galixe 223 has the optional zero lash rocker arms. Over time all the shaft type rockers will wear like that on the bottom of the rocker shaft and the bottom of the rocker arm bushing. It's Simplly due to the camshaft lifters action of lifting the push Rod to raise the rocker arm push Rod socket which is pushing against the valve stem and spring these forces are also pushing against the bottom of the rocket arm shaft and the bottom of the rocker arm bushing to, lack of oiling will also accelerate the wear to the shaft and bushings. A new rocker shaft is avaible here, the listing shows it as being for a F100 223 don't worry about that it's still the same part for a car 223 engine you could also ask them if they carry the rocker arm bushings. https://www.ecklers.com/ford-pickup...29-1.html#tab-label-lyonscg_fitment_tab-title
Maybe another possable source of parts is Rocker Arms Unlimted they might sell you the shaft or bushings. I do know that they do have a rocker arm rebuilding service too. http://www.rockerarms.com

Best of luck
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Thanks Bubba. I did check the ecklers site but in the small print, “out of stock”. That has been the usual answer so far. I did see the end caps at Rock Auto. The rockerarms rebuilding states that they cut the shafts down to true them up, chrome them, then bore out the rockers and install custom bushings to fit. Going to all that trouble seems to point to parts not readily available in the way a commercial operation needs. And individual may be able to scavenger hunt them up. I wonder what the wear tolerance is as the engine seems to run fine and I do not notice the rockers jumping up and down. When loose there is a fair bit of up and down slop. It seemed the oil supply hole to this rocker was a bit plugged up.
 
Well that's not so good didn't even see that they weren't available there are lots of other companies that also use to have them and there might still be some NOS parts I will look at a couple of my Antque Ford parts suppliers to see if they gave the stock will try and check tomorrow or next. I can tell you one no cost way that we used to do it back in the day even when the parts were easy to get this was because we didn't have very much money to work with. This way is to turn the rocker shaft over 180 degrees putting the worn area of the shaft at the top then this gives you a nice new surface to use again on the bottom of the shaft it will work good if the rocker arm bushings don't have very much wear you can test them on the part of the rocker shaft that's still the factory size spec right next to were the rocker arms weren't operating f they still fit good there than you will be fine for a long time. Best of luck
 
bubba22349 said:
Well that's not so good didn't even see that they weren't available there are lots of other companies that also use to have them and there might still be some NOS parts I will look at a couple of my Antque Ford parts suppliers to see if they gave the stock will try and check tomorrow or next. I can tell you one no cost way that we used to do it back in the day even when the parts were easy to get this was because we didn't have very much money to work with. This way is to turn the rocker shaft over 180 degrees putting the worn area of the shaft at the top then this gives you a nice new surface to use again on the bottom of the shaft it will work good if the rocker arm bushings don't have very much wear you can test them on the part of the rocker shaft that's still the factory size spec right next to were the rocker arms weren't operating f they still fit good there than you will be fine for a long time. Best of luck
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I thought about flipping it over. I would assume you have to drill new oil supply holes in the "new" bottom of the tube. Did you plug the old ones? The rockers seem to fit much better on the unworn part of the shaft. I did find a Canadian site called Muscle Cars and Classics that stated they are expecting some by the end of the month $58.00. John Mummert's site says they have a very limited supply of NOS. As far as your knowledge the shaft is the same for the silent lash system?
 
Yes the shaft oil hole position probally maters I think the rocker arm bushing has a Chanel or slot that will distribute the oil around the rocker and shaft. However that said it would be probably be best if the oil holes were in the bottom of the shaft to feed the oil were its most needed for the higher friction at the bottom of the rocker shaft and the rocker bushings. I don't know that you would need to plug up the other hole or not shouldn't hurt having two it's maybe not going to get full oil flow up that high unless there was more oil pressure in the system. Yes to my knowledge the rocker arm shafts are all the same size diameter, as well as the cam lifters and all the other valve train parts the only parts I know for sure are different in a zero lash system is the camshaft grind and the rockers arms another possable differance might be the push Rod lenght but I am doubting that for now.
 
From what I have found so far is the zero lash rocker tube is a different part number than the standard rocker version. I can find the earlier standard rocker version but the zero lash version just doesn’t seem available. I am guessing the difference is the hole in the tube for the oil supply pipe. This oil supply pipe
 
I think I may have found a new rocker arm tube. A local O Reilly Auto found one at a store in another state (Iowa) and is having it transferred here on Tuesday. Will pull the old one out this weekend. They had two if anyone needs one check with them.
 
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I removed the rocker assembly and found the wear on the tube to be very uniform. A few of the oil supply holes were partially plugged up. The center ridge in the wear area corresponds to the oil groove in the rocker bushing. It seems to me as the bushings wear on the tube the oil passage slowly gets choked off. It required a bit of effort to get the tube towers (brackets) off. They were a very tight fit and it required a combination off screwdrivers through the bolt holes to act as levers to twist them back and forth. Some I had to pound the tube through with a hammer. There was no galling or damage to the parts. How tight should this fit be.
 

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Yes that rocker shaft is sure worn quite a bit surprising it didn't make a lot of nosie or maybe it did, it will be much quieter with a new rocker shaft. The rocker shaft stands need to be a good tight fit you can warm them up in an oven to help them go on a little easie, you could also put the rocker shaft in the refrigerator to help some more. Best of luck Edited
 
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