Broke rocker arm..

[CobERA]

Don't have much to add to this discussion, except to say that I recently broke my rocker arm shaft on my 428 FE. Snapped at the mounting hole over the #4 cylinder. I have over 26,000 miles on my engine, and have been known to push it a little hard sometimes. I did not have end stands. I ordered new shafts and end stands from Precision Oil Pumps. Hope to install them this weekend. Thanks to this thread I'll pay attention to the the alignment.

[DIRTYDOG427]

I too ordered new shafts from Precision , Clovis CA.. along with the end stands..Doug seems like a good guy.. He could have sold me new rockers along with it, but said that I ddidn't need em.. do rockers give much added HP? He said it would give me extra 300 rpm if the motor was good with it.. My engine has new ARP rod bolts but old parts otherside.. stock cam rods etc.. and because of vintage parts I didn't think I needed it to rev any faster esp in the high rpm range...This shaft failure has made me realize how much I want to preserve this 427SO.. and I can always add the rockers later..
Thanks all of you all for the help.. I am still open to why these gave way because I only had 2000 miles on the motor since it was freshened (I have no way to tell how many miles the shafts have on em) and they are not the thin shafts..I think they are the thicker shafs...175 wall thick .. I think Doug said the new ones would be .250.. Have a look..and thanks again..

[wideglidejoe]

Dirty Dog,

I think you'll be pleased with the Precision Oil Pump parts. I've purchased their parts, they make good stuff!

After reading all of this, I'm just surprised (and lucky) I didn't have a major failure back in the '60's. I hotrodded several FE combinations; mostly stock except for cam swaps, headers and bigger carbs. All using stock Ford rocker arms, both adjustable and non-adj, and the only FE failure I had was a timing chain stretched and jumped a few teeth on a warmed over 390 after 100,000+ miles of hard driving. Luckily no bent valves, etc.

I'm amazed at all of the FE knowledge that everyone has posted here. I've incorporated that info on my current build; FE oil mods, roller rockers w/end stands and shaft spacers, timing advance (initial and total), etc. All of this stuff has changed for the better since the 60's! Today we are in better shape for FE stuff than ever before.

[DIRTYDOG427]

I got the end stands and new shafts from Doug..Precision Pumps Clovis. He was great and did what he said he would..Ordered em Mon or Tues and had em by Fri PM..amazing ! When I took a closer look at the old set up as I took off the old parts I discovered the 5 & 6 stand holes had helicoils in em.. and today I discover the push rod out of the 6 hole was bent ..I can't recall if it's the intake or exhaust hole but the important thing is that it's the hole on the strong side of the stand where the shaft broke..the 2nd hole from the left..so how did it bend??? I would understand if the bent pushrod was in the first hole where the shaft broke.
Then, I go to get new pushrods and the guy says I better check the cylinder for pressure to see if I have a bent valve..Could a stuck valve have caused this? and have I got damage to the lifter and cam?? Appreciate the help guys..
The old builder of mine didn't put the stands in the correct order as he had em lined up as 5 -7 - 6 -8...Instead of 5-6-7-8-..I don't know if it would make a difference...The new parts are nice and the end stands are a tight fit on the headbolts-- but work...oil holes a lot smaller than the ones on the old stands. slots and oil holes to the bottem on the new shafts---OK. but my old stands had extra offset oil holes in the bottem where the stand bolts go and the new ones the holes in the bottem are only as big as the bolts..?? How does that work? Is this all because of the center oiler system that sends too much oil to the heads?? Thanks for the help?? what next --manifold??

[CobERA]

DDog,

I feel your pain. I also had a bent pushrod on the #4 intake valve. Also, the lifter had popped out. The whole R&R job became more involved, since I had to remove the intake manifold to reset the lifter. Finally got it all back together this past weekend. Have run it a couple of times with no problems, so I think I'm back in business.

Good-luck.

[DIRTYDOG427]

All the damage seems to be on 5 cylinder..I made a mistake on saying it was the 6 hole.. it is the 2nd hole from the left, but on the strong side of the old #5 stand .. so thanks for the info Rick ..I was wondering what that lifter would do when the cam hit it after the shaft broke..that pushrod seems real short and low now..it's the lowest pushrod of the bunch..how do I tell if the lifter is still in the bore? I guess the manifold has to come off?? Did U reuse that lifter or put a new one in?? thanks ..I am in Dallas and the car is up in my brothers barn about an hour away..so I only get up there once ,twice a week..I will go back Sat or Sun...