Hi Guys,

I need some help. I recently had a Ford FE 390 rebuilt. When I had it rebuilt, I asked the shop to replace the hydraulic valve system with a mechanical system similar to the Police interceptor and High Performance engines.

After starting the engine, the lifters seemed to make quite a bit of rattling noise and I thought the lash might need to be adjusted.

After removing the valve cover I discovered, they just reinstalled the hydraulic lifter system. But, they installed solid push rods.

I called the shop and the guy who did the engine told me that all the push rods in the late 60s early 70 vintage 390s were solid. Thing is, I could have sworn that the hydraulic push rods I took out of the engine when I broke it down were hollow.

I need to know whats right. Do I need to keep the solid push rods and just pu tup with the noise, or go back to these clowns and get a set of new push rods that are hollow.

Thanks,
Dan

 

FE push rods a solid, the oil comes up thru rockers. Solid lifters will be louder. I assume that they put ajustable rocker arms on, you may need to check the clearance.

 

No they didn't put adjustable rockers on it. They reinstalled hydraulic lifters The stock 390 comes with hydraulic lifters - they aren't adjustable. That's what this one had before the rebuild and there was no noise. Thanks for the input.

 

If the shop replaced the pushrods the lenth may not be the same as the orriginals, this would make the lash out of spec and the lifters will make a lot of noise, you may need to put adjustable rockers so that the lash can be adjusted correctly to lose the noise, with hydrolic lifters you should have no noise.

 

Wondering alot of stuff here... what oil is in the thing ? were the lifters primed up prior to install. With non adj rockers are the valve stems all the same height (check with a straight edge) Push rods back in the same place (doubt it) New cam ? springs ? There is a decent tech article on preload in the tech article section... Start reading then go deal with it..

 

Well JMO, they may have installed a mechanical cam and solid lifters.. But if there not FE people and not much caring about a ford build..they didnt put you a set of adjustables in there.... But as mentioned a solid mechanical set-up is going to be noisy!

Did they give you a parts list of what you paid for on parts? And FE's Oil up thru the rocker saft stands and then thru the shafts to the rockers themselves...Check you parts list for what you were charged for and "IF" indeed you paid for a new mechanical cam and lifters..then you'll need to buy some adjustable rockers, any parts house would have them or can order some FoMoCo one's...

RJ

 

Redman; you'll cause more trouble for yourself if you "prime up" the lifters.
Best to install them oiled up but not pumped full of oil, assembled with breakin lube on cam and foot.
This way you can check the preload and correct if needed then when done pre-oil the motor. After a few minutes running they will all quiet down.

Now if that is a solid cam w/solid lifters I wouldn't even turn it over if it has non adjustable rockers, bent valves suck.

 

ok well it sounds like a bad rebuild. why revert back to old school solid lifters? you won't gain a thing? but if thats what you desire they should have blocked off the oil passages , solid lifters, mechanical cam and must have adjustable lifters.

 

I appreciate all the comments. The engine rebuild is done so oiling and priming lifters is behind me. I originally wanted the solid lifters etc. for strength. But I really don't need that. I guess maybe I was dreamin when I got tired of the engine and tranny problems and decided to get both rebuilt thinking when I put them back in everything would be just fine. The engine is back in the truck, it's running, and it's got a lot more noises than it did before the rebuild. Maybe it's the solid push rods (as opposed to the hollow ones) maybe it's the headers as opposed to exhaust manifolds, maybe it's the larger alternator, or fan clutch, that wasn't there before, maybe it's the RV cam - I don't know. One thing is for sure - I've spent about $4k to rebuild and all new accessories and I'm not comfortable enough with my level of knowledge on this engine to fool with it and blow it up......I think it's time to take it to someone who really knows these motors and who can work out the bugs (and that's if there are any - might just be me hearing things). It's been 25 years since my last restoration (the 289 was great to work on) and after a year of trying to get this drive train in and get the truck driveable, I'm just sick of the constant setbacks. I'll just take it to a shop and say "call me when it runs right."

Does anyone know a good FE guy in the San Diego Area, and if you can sell a kidney on e-bay?

Thanks again,
DD

PS After pulling the valve covers off, it appears that everything is hydraulic - lifters, rockers, rocker shaft, etc. I was told it's a Melling RV cam. After calling Melling, they said they don't make a mechanical cam for this engine, only hydraulic. So, Im assuming mine is hydraulic...noise and rough run could be anything....maybe even the distributor being a tooth off....

 

Headers make an engine a lot more noisy than cast iron manifolds. As far as I know there have never been hollow push rods (used only on engines that do not oil the rockers thru the head and rocker shaft and stands) on any FE series motor, hydraulic or mechanical cammed.

 

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but the FE has hollow pushrods no matter what.

It's the holes on the ends that it lacks because the rockers are oiled through the rocker shaft.

I'd go outside and hack up a stocker 1967 pushrod, but I don't wanna

--

It sounds like the pushrods are too short. If the valve stem height was left stock, and the RV cam has a smaller base circle than a stock cam, you need to make up the difference. On the other hand, if the shop didn't get the valve stem heights the same as stock because they put hardened seats on the exhaust valves, or any other reason, you need to check the valve lash and change pushrods as needed.

If the shop rebuilt the motor, why not go right back to the shop with it and say "fix it" ???

 

in my opinion, take it back to the shop.
you should get a list of what they purchased for the rebuild.
if you start messin with it from here, you may lose your warranty if there was one.
a good FE shop should know whats up.
you may have a hydraulic setup and not correctly installed rocker shafts. ie. shaft hold down bolts not correct. one is tapered to let the oil run up to the shaft and out to the arms.
you get no oil up there, it'll scar and tear those shafts and make a lot of noise.
along with different pushrods...... they need to look at it.

check out galaxie club of socal. they may have some tips on FE rebuilders. those galaxie guys are detailed oriented all-FE'ers.

keep us posted on what happens

 

LOL :)

BTDT "hacksawing thing" already and yes they are hollow with a ball bearing "friction?" welded on each end.
No hole in the ball bearings tho.
Because there's no hole in the ends, when just talking about them, they are called "solids" even tho they are hollow...
or something like that?

Exactly what I need to do to mine in the process of finding my tail pipe squeaking/whistling trouble.
My 360FE's got .060" over push rods in it and I have a set of brand new "std".

Kinda disappointed someone hasn't said "change out your muffler bearings" in my thread yet. :/

Alvin in AZ

 

Nice one. OK, the pushrods are technically hollow. Sheesh.

-Scouder

Lawyer to Coroner: "How many deceased people have you done autopsies on?"
Coroner to Lawyer: "They were ALL deceased."

 

Hi Alvin,


Thanks for the advice on the push rods. Solid? Hollow? Noisy either way. I have an FE mech coming out next week to have a look see!

BUT, I may have some advice on your tailpipe whistle. If changing out the muffler bearings doesn't work for you (tee hee now you can sleep at night), here is what I think. I used to fly P-3s in the Navy and we found submarines by the sounds they emmited. Anytime any part that had a fluid (then water-for you exhaust) flowing over it that had a nick or protrusion, it would make a sound at a specific frequency.

If you have a whistle in your exhaust, I would suggest that you have a rough joint, edge, or most probably, a burr (or weldment) on the end of one of the pipes that is protruding into the exhaust flow and acting as a "reed." It's the same way a flute makes its sound when air is blown over the sharp edge at the blow hole.

Maybe blowing on the edge of a beer bottle to make it "toot" is a better example. I think smoothing up the edges of your pipes at any pipe end/joint will solve your problem.
Good luck,
Dan