Drilling out adjustable rockers?

[78 granada]

To my adjustable rocker friends out there; do you have any experience pro or con regarding the drilling out of the oil passages in each adjustable rocker as suggested in the falcon manual? I know that more oil is not always better but at the same time that's a pretty good source!! And, on that, my adjustable set from RAU came with an additional shaft stand for the end away from the oil source. The stand on the shaft has a plate that blocks oil and diverts down onto the head. The unit on my 78 Granada 250 simply dead heads, which it seems would slightly increase the pressure at each rocker, and everywhere else for that matter.
Why the difference? Does it matter? Thanks all!

 

[wsa111]

The reason the first rocker stand is a bleed for letting excess oil to drain to between the 2nd & 3rd lifters. Between these lifters is a drain hole for excess oil to drain onto the distributor gear for necessary lubrication to prevent gear wear which is a problem on most ford engines.
If you are running full roller rockers like the yella-terra this extra oiling is eliminated.
To remedy this problem you need the cut a .025" by .025" oil bleed groove on the 2nd & 3rd lifters between the oiling on the lifter to the top of the lifter.
The extra oil will supply the missing oil supply to the distributor gears.
The V-8 engines will benefit if a .030" orifice is drilled into the cup plug at the front of the left lifter oil galley which will spray oil onto the distributor gear.
I always parkerize my gears or install a hardened gear which has been nitrided for surface hardness.

 

[78 granada]

See, that's why I joined!! I read that ford increased the size of the oil passages in the stock rockers at some point. Perhaps that was to introduce more oil to ultimately flow down to the gear? My stock rockers did not have the bleed but the RAU adjustables came with a rocker stand option for both. Do you think there is any risk in installing the bleed style stand on the head not previously having it? Sounds like good insurance. I have to get some coffee and get out to the garage and get my eyes on what you are describing!!!

 

[chad]

Will a post on another's similar thread be as useful as a new thread started? I'll try'n C:

Will my adjustable rockers (I see here/CI/the Handbook) my 170 is the only one (144 too?) with adj. as oem
fit on my fresh 250? Would there be any advantage to this if compatable? I have a Compcams (I think it's) 260
cam & I just did some bench wrk on the 250's rockers/shafts/stands (only cleaned & re-assembled).

What say ye? Of use? Improvement? 1/16 inch shims under stands also/or/instead? Still lookin for low rev tq not really HP.
:|

 

[78 granada]

I prefer the adjustables Chad even with the hydraulic lifters. It allows better lash adjustment under a multitude of circumstances. I don't know exactly what the the stock rocker ratio is but in any case, I'd use the adjustable unit, but that's just me.

 

[chad]

...but that's just me.

Well - THAT's exactly what I'm lookin 4, ur experience, opinion.
So thank you.

Neighbor wuz always out w/a feeler gage & box wrench, his VC off…
If I use them do they stay, or loose adj & need returned maintenance often?
The vehicle is for income, need it to go w/o a stop 2 attend to it.
I'm a "set it and forget it " kinda guy (no carb tinkerin either).

What advantage would it give me on my freshly machined engine (my 1st build)?
I seek low rev tq, mmmm, will it help w/that?

Thanks again, y'all help me grow (cube by cube not inch by inch - 'less U measure skull diameter i.e. brain growth

 

[Econoline]

What I don't understand is if the first rocker tower bleed off is good or needed why ford eliminated it later with the hydraulic cam engines?

 

[78 granada]

I wondered that too. Maybe the timing is coincidental but at some point Ford enlarged the rocker oiler ports to the valve to 1/8" which also means more oil back down from the head. I really don't know if that is significant. But, I am drilling my adjustables out to 1/8" and
am going to forgo the bleed style stand for the stock '78 configuration. That'll keep the oil flow and the pressure up too.

 

[adamscm]

I'm wrestling with this question also...I've just rebuilt a 65 200 that will be going in a 62 Comet. It had the 1st pedestal with a drain, but the rebuilt rocker set I bought doesn't have it. I put the pedestal from the old onto the new, but am wondering if pressure and oiling to the valve stem tips would be better without it. I spun the oil pump with a drill, and the pushrods are getting good oil, but the the valve tips just barely get a small dribble. I just wish I knew what the 'official' Ford reasoning was. Chris

 

[78 granada]

I think the larger holes (they look huge!) on the valve side on stock fords in later years like mine (78) indicate the need to increase the oil there at least somewhat. When I got my rockers from RAU with both options I called them and was told to disregard the bleed style stand because my application did not use it originally. If all heads allow the same return flow to the distributor gear I would go with higher pressure at the rockers and enlarging the valve side oilers. Let me know what you decide....great minds think alike!

 

[adamscm]

78 Granada, Thanks for your thoughts. The Ford Performance Handbook recommends drilling the holes to 1/8 in. They don't mention the pedestal drain. The Classic Six site says the drain is for the dist gear. Don't know if Ford addressed that some way later on. I could either drill and leave pedestal drain, drill and put non-drain rocker on, or leave it as-is, and see how it oils when I install it, and modify later if necessary. When I tore down the 65 motor, it did have the drain, but I replaced the rocker set with non-adjustables for simplicity's sake, and it arrived without the pedestal drain (so I put it back on. I guess I need to know if that dist. lube is necessary on a 65 block. Chris

 

[1hotvega]

In about 1967 (I think) Ford removed the pedestal drain, they also went to a rocker shaft that had a small flat machined on the bottom to allow oil to drain from the rocker shaft. I have used new replacement rocker shafts from SBI, Sealed Power and Pioneer. All three of the replacement shafts had the flat portion machined in the bottom. When I use a new rocker shaft I delete the pedestal drain, my reason for doing so is I have had rocker arm cores with the pedestal drain and the relived shaft. When I disassembled them both end rockers near the drain and the shaft were badly galled. My thinking was that pressure was lost through the lower relief and the drain causing lack of lubrication as you went further down the shaft.

 

[adamscm]

Wow, this is the fist time anyone has mentioned a different shaft. Where/how exactly would I see this machined area? Please explain where the oil drains from the newer version of the shaft. Thanks

 

[chad]

Chris,
Look @ the bottom of the chrome shaft that the rockers/stands R threaded onto.
Thanks 'vega'.

 

[adamscm]

Thanks, Will do after work today...I'll let you know what I find. BTW, Here's the motor, almost ready to go...I'm glad I'm getting this info about the shaft before I put it all together.

 

[1hotvega]

I will see if I can get a picture up tonight of the late and early shaft

 

[chad]

Lookin goooood!
Thanks 4 da pic…
(wanna paint that engine?)

 

[adamscm]

Thanks, In 62 the engine was black with yellow valve cover (Mercury Comet) and air cleaner. I've posted a pic below of the 144 that's in there now. My new 200 will be disguised as a 'stealth' 144 using the same cover and cleaner.

 

[chad]

WoW,
lookat dat color!
Kouwell!

 

[adamscm]

Well, Now that I'm paranoid, I took off the rocker set last night, and inspected the shaft. I could not find any difference between the new shaft and the original. So I put it all back on, with the 1st pedestal drain. I spun the oil pump, and it seems to oil fine. I'll probably just leave it and observe it once it's running in the car. A quick fix, if desired to raise pressure, would be to just remove the #1 shaft bolt and washer cover, and install something that blocks the drain hole. If anyone here discovers something new, please let me know.