Just a little history on the truck. I got it about a month ago, haven't driven it much due too it needs alot of work. for starters, The truck runs great! its runs really smooth. It does have an aftermarket cam, its a 77 f150 460. I noticed two push rods (extremely bent) and 2 lifters just hanging out in the vally. They both belong to cylinder #8. What caused this? valves adjusted too tight? over rev? One of the lifters seemed "locked up" I took it apart the didn't see anything bad, than put it back together and now it seems fine. I didn't find any flat spots or damage too the cam, or to the valve stems. It does run great though! I never noticed any kind of a miss.

 

There could be several reasons for bent push rods, but most of the time it was because the engine was over rev'd.
Puzzled as to how it ran smooth with bent push rods and possibly bent valves.

 

I'm puzzled too. I'm a diesel mechanic. I work on cat, cummins, detroit alot. i'm pretty good at finding little misses. but this engine ran good and smooth!

 

Ah, those big block 460's are running fools. Guess it means the rockers still moved enough to open the valves, and the springs closed 'em with a solid lift cylinder, lol. Probably didn't have the same amount of lift. Wonder how it effected duration. Ever hear an engine run with an exhaust valve push rod removed?

 

usually when push rods bend it,s because the lifters hang up in their bore ! if you can get the lifters out clean the bores so the lifters can go up and down easily without hanging up ! when you put the push rods back in make sure they are sitting right on the rockers and sitting in the middle of the lifters ! you can,t adjust hydraulic lifters so what you do is put each rocker on the low cam and torque the rocker nut !

 

You have a lot of people interested in this problem. Let us know what you find. Thanks, hanky

 

I'm not sure, but I think the op solved the problem. Unstuck the lifters, replaced the bent push rods, and torqued the rocker arm shaft back into place. His/her only question was why the rods bent. Says the truck runs great with no miss.

 

Well since where on the subject, What kind of rockers would you guys reconmend? This truck is a 77 f150 460 with 10 inches of lift. Its not going too be driven often, or raced. It has a mild cam, but i'm not sure of the duration or the brand. I just want to put this thing back togther and run it for a while before I rebuild the engine. The rockers it has on it now look factory and use a "bolt" to hold them down. If I buy aftermarket rockers, i'm going too need studs too? and guide plates? I take it guide plates are used on roller rockers to keep the rockers centered through the push rod? I fully understand that your suppose to replace your cam when replacing flat tappets, but honestly, i'm not going too replace my cam quite yet. just looking too get by.

 

My bad. I was thinking the 460 has rocker arm shafts. It does not.

Perhaps these rockers will get you by until the rebuild.

Sealed Power ZR855 - Sealed Power Stamped Steel Rocker Arms - Overview - SummitRacing.com

 

That'll work! Do you know the stock length of the pushrods??