Would anyone happen to have the different pushrod lengths available
for a 390 engine? I have a '76 F-150 that I'm trying to match rods with, and am having a heck of a time...maybe I'm being too picky.
Anyway, the lengths I know for sure exist are as follows:
9.56
9.59
9.62
9.68.

Is anyone aware of lengths between 9.62 and 9.68? The local shop here can't find anything, and the rod I'm trying to match falls somewhere in between.
I appreciate any and all comments.

Thanks!

 

9.59 is what your year engine came with. Is that what you are asking? All the lengths are as follows:

9.35 B&C
10.70 B&C
9.35 B&B
9.56 B&B
9.59 B&B
9.62 B&B
9.77 B&B

B&B= Ball and ball type
B&C= Ball and cup type

 

That's actually the problem...It looks like there is a little difference between what came in the moter as compared to either
a 9.62(a touch too short) and a 9.80 (a little too long). They
seem to be closer to a 9.62 (perhaps a 1/32"). Is this going to
cause a problem if I use the one's that are a little shorter?
I know the best way to do this would be to use a mic/caliper to get
the exact length, but no shop around here seems to have one.
Regarding the 9.80, I was told this rod came out in late 76 to address
an issue with the blocks/heads/valves at that time. Ever heard of it?

Thanks!

 

How are you determining wether they are too long or too short? I believe you can buy pushrods up to .060 over and under stock. Were your valve stems ground when the head was redone? I'm not really sure what kind of position you are in. Did you just get a rebuild and looking for new rods or are you trying to find a replacement for one in a running motor that broke? Need to know exactly what you are doing I guess.

 

Here's the deal (thanks for you help BTW).
I bought a long block from a company, and when I was putting on the
intake manifold, I noticed 2 bent rods. I called the outfit and was told just to grab 2 rods of the same size and replace it.
(I'm not sure if I somehow bent the rods, or it came that way..I'll find out after I start it though).
The problem came when I tried to find rods the same length. At first I bought 2 each of the sizes Napa had listed (9.56, .59, and 9.62).
The 9.56 comes the closest, but is still a little shorter than
what came in it. I then found out about the 9.80 (took it to a machine shop, the machinist made an educated guess (didn't have anything to measure that long of rod with), and thought I had it nailed...nope too long. I gave the warranty company that info, and they said it should work fine, providing it was the same length.
One thing I must say is...they offered to send me a new motor, but after fighting this one for 4 days getting it in, I wanted to try this route first.
So I guess my question is this...It shouldn't be a problem putting a rod that's a little shorter(roughly 1/32" if that) than the others?


Thanks again!

 

I'm not quite sure how much travel a lifter has but I think its around .060. Putting a shorter pushrod in would either make noise or bend again. Try a different machine shop and see if they can measure it accurately. Something odd was done to that motor. Might just want to send the reman company one of your rods and tell them to send you the amount you need. I don't blame you for not wanting to pull the motor back out and you shouldn't have to anyway. When my 390 was a '74 360 I just went to the store and bought a 9.59 rod and it was the same as the rest. I'm not so sure about the change at the last part of '76 on the rod lengths. The only change I know of made in '76 was the electronic ignition.

 

Sorry, I mis-typed...the replacement rod that comes closest is
9.62.
So if I'm getting your drift about the lifter travel, I may be able to squeak by.
If it was your money and warranty, would you gamble?

Thanks

 

No I wouldn't. I don't like substitutions. The lifter travel isn't really supposed to be a margin of error. It is designed to be in between bottomed out and fully extended.

 

I finally had a chance to speak with the warranty rep on the problem.
He was somewhat mystified about why a 9.62 was too short and a 9.68 was too long; I'm guessing the rods I have are somewhere around
9.64 to 9.65 (there is no such "standard" ford length).
Anyhow, his suggestion was to go ahead and use whatever rod was closest (9.62). Since I got the approval from them ( I made sure he wrote it in the claim information) I'm covered if anything goes wrong.
I also made it very clear that if something broke, they were going to pay the labor/parts prices at a mechanic of my choice. They had no problem with that either.
Wish me luck!

 

 

I have replaced the cam in my 360 with an RV cam. Timing marks are lined one on top of the other. Cyl # 5,7&8 have very little compression now. I removed rocker arm assembly to make sure rings did not collapse. I have good compression with assembly removed. Any suggestions to what I need to be looking at now? I have pulled timing cover back off to make sure marks are Dot on top of Dot on gears..

 

Check the lifters, compare them to the originals, FE lifters have a shorter pushrod cup height than other Ford lifters, they are all the same diameter but the taller height of non FE lifters won't allow the valves to fully close.
We also go a set of lifters once that would pump up and not bleed down causing low compression issues, that problem drove us nuts for a while until we figured out what was going on.

 

Hey Guys-

Here are some TECH INFO regarding FE valve-train adjustment(s) that may help-

How to Measure for Correct-Length Pushrods - Hot Rod Network

http://www.compcams.com/Technical/In...20Geometry.pdf

Comp Cams Pushrod Length Checker | JEGS

 

No matter how old I get or how many "tools" I acquire.........there is still one more I just got to have....