Aaron and I were literally laughing with joy this afternoon. We found where the rocker arm oiling problem was. Actually, it was a couple of things.

The rear rocker shaft bolt was a recent topic of discussion in another thread. Here is our rear bolt and one of the other shorter ones:

As you can see, there is nothing special about the long one, unlike what I understood. There are no holes, extra shoulders, or anything. It's just a plain ol' bolt. I guess it's possible someone before me changed it, but why would they? When I removed this rear bolt and cleaned the pool of oil out of its threaded hole in the rocker shaft pedestal, I dug around with a thin wire and found absolutely no way for oil to get in, no holes or passages were visible. We started the engine with this bolt out, and still no oil.

On a whim, as a last desperate move, I took a small slender screwdriver and poked around one last time. Lo and behold! I found a soft spot in the inside wall of the passenger side of the pedestal. Poking around a little more, I was able to break through all the sludge and gunk and opened up the passageway from the block. The hole wasn't any more than about 1/8" diameter, much smaller than I would have imagined. Aaron started the engine again while I watched the hole, and I got a shower of oil sprayed on my chest. We put the bolt back in and fired her up again, but still no oil in the rockers.

Not to be defeated, we pulled the whole darned thing apart and rodded out each orifice with fine wire and blew them out with compressed air. A good shot of WD-40 from a can with the little spray tube confirmed each passage was clear. Everything back in place and valve lash re-established, we gave it another go. It took a little over a minute, but we began to see puddles forming on top of the valve springs and oil dribbling on top of the push rods. Finally, we were able to let the engine run through an initial break in period of about 20 minutes, without worrying that it wasn't oiling properly. Our determination paid off.

Slantsixdan, here is the front end of the shaft where I was telling you I could not find the flat you described. This is a '74, so go figure.



Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. One more hurdle cleared.

Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Great work, Jerry. You should hang that oiled shirt up on the wall, eh?

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Just for information. The oil holes in the rocker shaft, should be in the 4 or 5 o'clock position, looking at the shaft from the front. Some heads had a 3/8 thread bolt in the rear position. Some heads had a "stepped" bolt, 3/8 at the top and 5/16 thread. I don't know what year they changed, the earlier heads I have use the 3/8 bolt.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

I have seen the stepped bolt in as early as '76 heads.

_________________
Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

That's not an early head.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Something else about this engine doesn't make sense to me. My Haynes manual indicates the oil capacity is five quarts, with a new filter. I have put in only four quarts, but the dipstick (original one) shows "full". I'm using the Purolator PureONE PL30001, which is taller than stock. The car is sitting even on jack stands. Is it four or is it five?

Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

According to my 71 service manual, 4 quarts, but it has a note, saying if filter element is replaced add one additional quart.

So I gather stock filters are supposed to hold 1 quart, assuming standpipe and anti-drainback valves are in working order.

I usually use 5.5-6, and I use a ~7" tall wix 51773 filter

That's what doesn't make sense. I would expect it to take at least one more quart, because of the larger filter we have. We did remove the taller standpipe from the old pump and transplanted it into the new one. I'll have to admit that I did not know about the internal check valve, or that it should have been tested. The oil pan drain plug threads are slightly stripped out, and there is a small leak. I guess, when we drain the oil to fix the threads, we can remove the filter and check the anti-drain valve. How does one go about that?

By the way, with the filter in an upright position, should I expect it to dump a bunch of oil down on me and the tie rod, when I loosen it for removal?

Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.