Decided to sift through a box of old parts that came in the trunk of this `57 bird… found original timing set, a rusting ECK cam, two previously polished connecting rods, 7 flat top cast pistons, a dozen lifters, and two nearly complete rocker arm assy’s.

Not sure what to make of it except that the PO either chose or was forced by failure to rebuild the motor. Given that the block doesn’t match the 312 ci “D” code on the VIN plate, but the heads are “G” code, I’m leaning toward believing the original motor took a grenade.

The reason for my post though, is that I noticed each of the rocker arms (ECG 6564-82) had near a half dozen holes drilled through the collars and upper ridges (where the part # are cast). At first I thought it was a test for weight reduction, but then I noticed the rocker pivot rods showed a lot of scaring.

Do you suppose this was an attempt to combat an oiling problem that may have eventually led to the demise of the motor? Or was this an ole-school performance tric?

Brian

 

Cylinder Index = 84

Current Experiment = `57 Tbird, Grand Rapids, Michigan