Rocker Arm Studs + More trouble now

[Fordtastic]

here is a picture.

[fordman]

that doesnt look broken to me. where is it broken at?

[Fordtastic]

shouldnt there be some timing marks on the top or is that it?

[Fordtastic]

if you click on the picture and enlarge it , it almost looks like there may have been a peice that came off... the whole thing is so old its hard for me to tell anything.. you all are the pros so if its ok in yours eyes then it is fine with me too.

[fordman]

it looks right to me. the one i posted is a later model pionter.1978

[DuckRyder]

It looks good to me...  

[Fordtastic]

ok great!!!! Thank you very much for your very quick replies!!! tomorrow is do or die day! /me keeps fingers crossed that all goes well.. I dont plan to have it done until sunday night by 10pm pst.. im going to take it slow and hopefully do it right...

Thanks again to all of you that have helped so far.. I would be lost without you!!!

ahh and i wanted to mention that the water pump is new just looks ugly due to lack of paint when i got it 8 mos ago... I have however added some engine paint to my budget..

[Fordtastic]

The parts store lent me a harmonic balancer installer saying it will also remove them... when i googled a puller and compared it to the pictures of when i googled an installer they are entirely different tools... it could be im just tired and not thinking straight but i would think installer means exactly that.. INSTALLER... my camera battery died so ill post a picture asap... there is nothing on this installer that can actually grab the balancer to pull it off...

How do you know if your harmonic balancer is bad by looking at it? mine appears to have some cracks in the rubber seal around it.. i will post a picture of that also asap.. Is there any other way to tell?

Also, it seems Haynes decided to stop making manuals for the f100's before 73.. its not even listed... I bout the one for 73-78 as i figure it will be close enough for what i need it for.

[fordman]

here is what a balancer puller looks like. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... ESELX%3AIT

to use this type you take the crows foot and put the long threaded rod in it. then the pointer on the end of the threaded rod. then take the three bolts tha match your balancer botl holes and put them through the crows foot and into the balancer. make sure to screw them into the balancer as far and as evenly as you can get them. once the bolts are in a good distance. so they wont pull out. tighten down the center threaded rod into the center of the cranksahft. when it gets snug and everything looks even and level with the balancer. put a socket on the end of the threaded rod and turn it to tighten down the rod and pull the balancer off of the crankshaft. to put the balancer back on. line it up with hte key on the crankshaft and push it on with your hands as far as it will go on. then take the center botl and put it in the crank. tighten that bolt until the balancer is all the way back on and in place.

[Fordtastic]

Thank you for your reply... They had given me the wrong tool.. the balancer is off now... today in the next little bit I will be making the cam swap and putting everything back together.

[Fordtastic]

i keep reading that the oil pump drive rod can be pulled out when pulling the distributor... Im wayyy past pulling the distributor but Im trying to figure out where i look for this thing or a picture of in there.. I dont see anything that could have been pull out.

[DuckRyder]

The oil pump drive is a hexagonal shaft, it will either be stuck in the bottom of the distributor below the gear or will remain in the hole the distributor came out of. It is possible to drop accidentally drop it in the pan. Make sure that it is one place or the other, without it there will be no oil pressure...

[Fordtastic]

yikes ok thanks.. The hole the distributor goes in has nothing below it... So i guess im going to be fishing for it in the oil pan.

[Fastbackin1970]

The motor isnt stock.. It is a custom built job and Im not sure of exact specs. A guy at a shop told me it was a boss 302 but I looked on here and saw a picture of boss 302 heads and mine doesnt have the staggered valves.. I Think it is still a 302 built in cleavland though as it looks similar to one of those I have seen pictured on this website.  It has machined all metal lock nuts...  The non-adjustable types have a shoulder on the stud and machined all metal lock nuts. you tighten the rocker down to 20lbs and your set.. With my type I do it with the engine running... First, with the motor off I tighten each rocker until I can still barely spin the push rod... Next I place a piece of cut cardboard across the head so oil doesnt get everywhere when the motor is on.. Then I turn on the motor... Then I back off one nut till I hear a slapping sound.. I then tighten it slowly until the sound stops.. Then turn it 1/4 turn more. An area part store owner said I could go a full turn once the slap stops but everything I read says 1/4 turn. The all metal lock nuts if everything else is ok should hold their position all on there own. Mine come loose in about 2 days.

Funny thing is the set up under the valve cover is very similar to a 78 Camaro I had.. You would adjust the camaro's rockers in the same way and it also only had a machined all metal lock nut. I will take a picture of the motor today and see if I can get it posted on this thread as well.

I have had tons of trouble with this truck in the two years i have owned it.. I love it though.. Its fun to drive and really suprises folks when they think Ill be slow off the line and suddenly they are left in the dust. I have replaced endless parts on it so I really want to keep it a long time.

also, one lifter had stopped oiling.. The owner of local parts store said to put a bottle of valve-kleen in the oil.. That cleared up the problem but it bothers me that I have to run chemicals in the motor. I have been changing the oil everytime it looks dirty since then.  Overall the oil is starting to look cleaner longer.  It used to be that I would change the oil and the very next day it looked filthy.

The truck runs very strong when everything is working right.. I have limited money so I really want to avoid an engine rebuild or having to buy a crate motor.

Wow, i really got off subject there... Thanks for the posts that you all have made so far.

The high nickel content block has a thicker deck, cylinder walls and beefy 4-bolt main caps. It is easily identified by screw in freeze plugs on the side of the block, pent roof valve covers, wide heads and a wide intake manifold. A Boss 302 has 8 valve cover bolts (because of the Cleveland heads) as opposed to the standard 302 having 6. The connecting rods are heavy, high strength steel forgings made for high rpm use. The crankshaft is a cross drilled high strength steel forging. The cam and lifters are high lift solid mechanical units.

The unique, wide, large port Cleveland style heads with staggered valve placement are what give the Boss 302 high power capabilities. Early units were typically characterized by very large intake and exhaust valves sitting in a small quench style combustion chamber.

The motor has a unique sound as a result of its solid lifter configuration. At idle, properly tuned, the engine has a great deal of 'chatter.

[Fordtastic]

it turned out to be a regular 302... things that threw me off were the screw in studs and adjustable rockers... also, a shop owner gave me some wrong info...  

So, is it possible to find this oil pump shaft and put it back in without pulling the motor?

I cant wait to put this back together.. I spent 12 hours yesterday prepping gasket surfaces and painting parts.