Bought a "yard find" (driveway find- Craigslist find - no barn anywhere to be seen) 1996 F150 with 52K miles on it. Story s the man who had it came down with cancer and it sat for 12 years. Just pulled off a valve cover and found at least 4 bent push rods. (engine still ran! -- not very good but it ran)
I have to wonder if the rods got bent BEFORE it was parked? - or AFTER when they tried to resurrect it?

 

I've never been deep into one of these engines.
Are they interference? Will they bend valves???

 

Post a photo of the truck. Sounds like a good deal.

 

 

Well, here it is. Pig in a poke? - or is there more hope for it?

30 years ago when I was young and foolish I had a 59 Chevy NAPCO with a 261. I rebuilt the engine but didn't clean out the gas tank. I poured fresh gas into it with a can of Berryman's and seized every valve in the head. I got "lucky" and only bent one valve and didn't break the new mega-buck piston. Every valve had this heavy black coating that the machine shop guy had trouble getting off. I'm afraid something like that has happened here.

 

 

This push rod is VIOLENTLY bent - it won't even come out of the hole!

 

That's a shame.

I'll give you a hundred bucks for it.

Where ya' at?

 

Get some pliers, straighten it out and yank the pushrod out. The valves likely just got stuck from the truck sitting.

 

I would do the same. Maybe even soak everything with some kind of solvent or diesel before I tried again.