'65 Mustang 200 ci with adjustable rockers?

[Canary94GT]

I'm curious as to why my '65 Mustang 200 i6 has adjustable rockers, when it seems classicinlines and the shop manuals say '65 200's did not come with adjustable rockers? I've also seen some users say they've never seen a '65+ 200 with adjustable rockers. I'm also wondering if I have hydraulic or solid lifters.

We are the second owners but have had it since 1980 and it had 71,000 miles. Bought off a little old lady, not someone visibly mechanically inclined. I thought it had hydraulic lifters... the lifters looking from above have two clips retaining the push rod. When I start the engine, I hear clattering for a couple seconds until oil pressure builds then it is relatively quiet. I am also pretty sure that the head has never been removed until I had it rebuilt a couple years ago.

The car came off the line in April 1965. I know it's a 200 ci since it has 5 freeze plugs.

Attached is a pic of my valvetrain after the rebuild. Nothing was changed about the rocker assembly or push rods.

I also noticed MustangMonthly's '65 200 i6 rebuild guide also has the same adjustable rockers:
http://www.mustangmonthly.com/techartic ... to_21.html

In the article they state,

What About Valve Lash?
When we tore down Gary's six-cylinder, we found adjustable rocker arms and cup-style pushrods. This went against what we knew to be true with FE-series big-blocks and 170/200ci sixes with hydraulic lifters. It turns out Ford sixes with hydraulic lifters were fitted with both adjustable and non-adjustable rocker arms depending on what was available at the time of manufacture. When we checked with Speed Pro, we learned the only type still available new is the adjustable type, which is what they sent us.

while classicinlines states:

Lifters: The 60-62 144/170ci engines have solid lifters, while the 63-UP 144/170ci engines have hydraulic lifters. All 200/250ci engines have hydraulic lifters.

Rockers: The 60-62 144/170ci engines have adjustable rocker arms, while the 144/170ci 63-UP engines have non-adjustable. All 200/250 engines have non-adjustable rocker arms.

And my 65 shop manual offers only nonadjustable rocker instructions for 1965 200 ci i6's.


Are the shop manuals and classicinlines incorrect? Did some '65 200's come with adjustable rockers? Are my lifters not hydraulic like I thought (how do I tell with the engine assembled?)

My engine (click to enlarge):

 

[CobraSix]

I think the problem is mainly due to age of the cars. Chances are that the heads have been replaced overtime, parts interchanged, etc.

I pulled my original block out of my car and found adjustable rockers, like you have on yours. If you have those adjustables, you should have hydraulic lifters in there more than likely.

It's just like with anything. When I did my T5 swap, I didn't have to shorted my driveshaft. Somewhere in the 40 year life of the car, it had been swapped at some point. Remember, these cars went through that 10-20 year age period where people would just slap stuff on to keep them running because they were classics, they were just old cars.

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy Canary:

"It turns out Ford sixes with hydraulic lifters were fitted with both adjustable and non-adjustable rocker arms depending on what was available at the time of manufacture."

The above statement is most likely to answer. At FoMoCo an "Empty bin" policy was in place, at that time, concerning new parts, or upgrades. All the old parts had to be used up before the new part or parts came out. That is one reason why it is so hard to give definitive dates for changes with Ford. Yes, many '65 200s came from the factory with adjustable rockers and all had Hydraulic lifters.

Adios, David

 

[Canary94GT]

Thanks! I just wanted to confirm - I figured Ford must have just been using leftover parts from the earlier cars, just wasn't sure they would still be doing that all the way into April of 1965.

I am -quite- sure my car has never been apart, but I guess there's always that possibility.

The main thing for me is knowing for sure that I have hydraulic lifters so that I can set valve lash correctly.