I am going to look at a 1958 F700 with a 272. The seller sent me some photos and the engine does not have the external oiler for the rocker arms. The engine has apparently never been overhauled. What are the chances that after 51 years the rocker arms are still in good shape? What should I do- pull the valve covers and see how much sludge is built up? Should I start it with the valve covers off and see if any oil is getting to the rockers?

The truck is 1300 miles away and I'm debating whether to try to drive it home or look into having it transported. I'd hate to break down half way home and have to have it towed into the next town.

Shouldn't a '58 have a 292?



Yeah, take a look under the valve covers. Even if they are not oiling, you still may be able to make the trip. You'd be surprised how far you can go if you pull over now and then and manually lube the rockers. When I got my truck, the rockers were not getting oil. I oiled them once a week and drove it like that for about 2 years. When I finally took the shafts apart, they wear was not nearly as bad as I was expecting. This was mostly around town driving and short trips on the highway.



How big is the F700? There's an F500 in a salvage yard near me. It's really not that big. If the 700 is not huge, transporting may be a cost effective option.


Lawrenceville, GA

Just a thought, but having the seller give you the casting numbers so you can decode it before going to look at it might be worth it. See the links on the home page to John Mummert's & Tim Y block guy's sites for locations of marks, and charts.

I recently stumbled upon a 272 with the sister casting to the supercharged heads. Picked up the whole running engine for 200 bucks.

Howdy,



The F-700 is a pretty big truck. It's going to have a GVW of somewhere around 20,000lbs so empty it will probably weigh around 10,000lbs. You won't get it on your average car hauler.



Unless you know for a fact that the brakes are in OK condition you should probably put it on a trailer and haul it home.



As far as the engine goes, find yourself a machine shop and have them rebuild it. There's nothing wrong with a 272.



There's a LOT of info at the following site. http://www.ford-y-block.com/techincal.htm





Cheers,





Rick


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1955 F-600/272/E4OD// Disclaimer: No animals were injured while test driving my F-600 except the ones I ran over intentionally!

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