Hello FE fans. I guess this will have to pass as an introduction and a platform for a question. I've never posted here though I have enjoyed reading other postings for a long while. Clearly. I'm not in anyone's league here, but I do know a LOT more about these engines today than I did a month ago. Perhaps even, I know more than the machine shop I contracted with, but I'm getting ahead of the story below.
I have a boat with a couple of 427 Fords in it. Curiously, one is a side oiler and one is not. Last summer I started hearing some ugly sounds from the port (left for you land based guys) engine, which happens to be the side oiler and the run that runs in the conventional direction - left rotation. I had the engine rebuilt by a local shop who are well regarded, but hardly what you might call Ford enthusiasts. Because of the tight spaces in which this engine is mounted, I had to move the block into the bilge (basement) and finish the build down there so there was no test run done before installation. The engine had solid lifters when it came out of the boat and hydraulic lifters when it came back. The change was made without even asking me. Naturally, I called the machine shop and asked what was up with that. They said "no solid lifter marine cams available for that engine." Turns out that's not entirely true, but I was anxious to move on so I asked them whether they had made the changes to the
oil gallery plugs required. They said "none required. we do this all the time." Now I'm no expert as already confessed, but I thought I recalled some work that had to be done first. Instead, I decided to just believe them. Now we are at the crux of the problem. Of course the lifters never pumped up, and the engine runs very poorly as you may have guessed. I'm surprised it runs as well as it does. So after a couple hours of running, I removed the intake and was hoping that I could remove the plugs covering the center gallery to lifter gallery passage. The engine was cast and drilled for hydraulics, but has been set up from the factory as a solid lifter engine. I was hoping that there would be a second plug under that, but instead I find that the passage is plugged by something. Here's my question. What was typically used to plug those passages? I suspect that it is some type of cap plug but it is difficult to know. I'm wondering if it is possible to remove these? Most of the information I can dig up seems to discuss going the other way - from hydraulic to mechanical. In the end, that may be my best option. I have found a new Chris Craft OEM cam and might end up putting it back in, but that's more involved than I care to get right now. Anybody ever seen these plugs?
Here's a couple of pics.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e7...anspassage.jpg
The first photo is down the hole under the allen set screw that covers the passage from the main center gallery to the lifter gallery.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e7...ithoilhole.jpg
The second link is looking down the lifter bore where you can see that the
oil passages are there - just plugged.
Any help or comments are appreciated. Yes I know that I put myself in this position, by my own ignorance. I'll take the hit on that. Just trying to get myself back on the water with the least amount of aggravation at this point.
Regards
Eric
1968 Side oiler converting to Hydraulic lifters
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