Sorry for the late reply guys. Finally got it buttoned up this am. Last weekend I tore into it, removed the dash and air box, not only to gain better access to the valve train , but to replace the heater core and blower motor. All of the drains were packed with stem seals. After clearing the drains, I installed new stem seals and valve cover gaskets. While I was that deep in, I replaced the exhaust manifold gaskets and flange seals. Managed to get all 16 bolts out without a break off thanks to my torch set. Replaced all bolts with new grade 8's. Yesterday I replaced all vacuum lines under the hood and dash, Unfortunately the compressor took a *****. Oh well. This morning I finished installing the dash and radio, tied up any loose ends, and got it back on the road. Drove it till it hit operating temperate and it was running about 8-10 psi of oil pressure at idle in gear. Once hot, the oil was changed to 20w-50. Hot oil temps raised to 15 psi. Hopefully this was just a too thin/ starved for oil issue.

I hooked my vacuum gauge up and was pleasantly surprised to see it running at 19in of vacuum with a dead steady needle. Adjusting the carb gained half a point at best. I couldn't find my distributor wrench, so the timing will have to wait. Once I adjust that, Ill see about changing the power valve to richen the mixture up a bit.

 

Unfortunately no one recommended you install oil restrictors in the heads while you had the rocker arm assemblies off.
Lots of oil pressure lost due to worn rockers and shafts on these engines.

 

Well, after much time messing with it, I have determined that the tick is actually in the upper end. The motor has a known 150k on it, possibly more. I'm not going to do lifters without a cam, a cam without bearings, ect. Motor is coming out this weekend. The smoking issue went away completely after stem seals, this gives me hope that the cylinders need nothing more than honing. I may add an upgraded cam to the mix. We will see. When it rains, it pours. The knock came back with a vengeance, the battery went bad, & I found that the p/s pump is failing. On the plus side, the 3g alternator has been swapped in this week.

 

150K. You might want to think about new rocker shafts and rocker. POP makes a very good set up.

 

I will look into them. I found a set on Jegs website for $239. What typically wears on them? I noticed the pushrods came to a point unlike any I have ever seen. Is this usual or indicative of wear? Found one bent push rod, a small score on cylinder 1's crank journal, and a ton of hard rubber/plastic crap in the pan and oil pump pickup. Likely stem seals and old gaskets. Got it all disassembled and in the back of my expo. Tomorrow it goes to the machine shop after work. My machinist is a month out ( thats how good his work is). That will give me time to complete the interior with hushmat, new carpet, new stereo, finish my alarm/ electric lock install, & put the headlights on relays.

The plan for now is to have any needed machining done,magnafluxing, all new internals, valve job, gaskets, factory cam & lifters, as well as all parts hot tanked.

 

Not sure what your buying for $239...?
POP roller tip rockers $450
POP shafts $200
You pay for what you get.

 

Stock rockers and shafts will wear, increasing the clearance and without an oil restrictor, will flood the heads with oil. The pointed push rods are just very very high mileage, or there was a lack of oil getting to them. The point, was it at the rocker, or the lifter? If it was at the rocker, the rockers are probably so worn that oil wasn't getting through the rocker to the pushrod tip.

 

https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/2019...BoCNqwQAvD_BwE

 

Those will most likely work if you are putting together a stock motor. If you plan on any kind of upgrade cam, than you need stronger valve springs, which are harder on "rockers, rocker shafts, valve guides, etc. Not to mention shaft end supports".
If your not going to run it hard and its just going to be a everyday driver (a pretty much tame motor), heck, go for it. Those Jegs rockers and shafts will most likely serve you well.
Just a thought, you might want to check to see who the actual manufacturer is. I really don't know myself
One more thing, no matter what cam you put in it, before you bolt down the intake, you might want to buy a push rod checker to make sure you have the correct length push rods. Checking preload and rod length have been well talked about.
Have fun with your build.

 

Sounds stock to me

 

Yes, it will be a stock motor for now. Originally I was going to up the cam a little, but due to all the other stuff I needed, the money was better spent elsewhere. A cam can be replaced later. This will be a fully stock build at the moment, with the exception of headers. I really don't want to wrestle the old manifolds back in. Later down the road, it will get a new intake and 4 barrel.

 

I ran stock rockers up to .554" lift with double valve springs and ran them up to 6000 RPM a lot and they were OK - so a little extra lift or duration is not going to radically shorten the life of the stock rockers. If those rockers and shafts you linked to are stock, they should do fine up to what you might consider just under "radical"

 

So is it recommended to add oil restrictors after all new valve train parts, or was that just to compensate for sloppy clearances ?

 

I'd install them anyway, the new rocker system will get plenty of oil with the restrictors.

 

Most stock FE's have a 5 quart oil pan. When you increase the rpm's beyond what the stock engine was designed to do, you can pump enough oil into the valve covers to starve the mains and cam bearings, by emptying the oil pan, causing bad things to happen. So to solve this problem, most racers buy a eight quart oil pan, high volume oil pump and restrict the oil going into the valve train. I always used a .090 restrictor for my race builds.
Stock builds, going in short bursts of slightly higher rpm normally do not need restrictors.
Our engine has .736 lift and turns 7000 rpm, so restrictors are a must, even with a eight quart pan.
Short bursts of 4500 rpm with a stock engine should not cause a problem.