You have a 50-50 chance going here. Not knowing why valve stuck- maybe just because sitting for some time. Could bend another push rod, but might free up valve. If it were mine I would go with the push rod, start it and just let it idle for awhile. Get it warmed up and oil flowing. Good luck with whatever you do-

Ol'ford nutCentral Iowa

56 Vic w/292 & 4 spd.

I've lost two of the "gone baby gone" skinny pushrods - bent before replacing the whole set with tubular. One was easily retrieved with a magnet - the other is still riding around down in the valley tray. I have heard of people tearing down engines and finding several bent pushrods riding in there - so for now I'll risk it. Seems like it would be pretty hard to get one of them tangled up in anything.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Is it possible the lifter stuck instead of the valve? With only the bottom two inches of the push rod bent at a 30 degree angle, I am wondering if the lifter stayed in the "up" position while the valve pushed down on the pushrod, causing the push rod to exit the top of the lifter and bend. I was thinking I would use some anti freeze spray lube to try and wet the lifter, let it sit, then with a long piece of rod (ground round on the end to match the surface of the push rod, tap on the lifter to see if it would go down. I really am not familiar with Y-Blocks until I came across one in a fifty six ford I found several years ago and joined this site to find out more about them. Does anyone think I may be on the right track here?

Darrell Howard Whitefish, MT Outlaw 56 Ford F-100's

I doubt it would be stuck lifter but would be easy to check by rotating engine while holding a long piece of rod, wire, stick, anything with downward pressure and check if lifter returns. The bent pushrod syndrome is normally result of sticking valves due to long period of engine not being started. Very common to find old bent pushrods in valley area. Just check valves move easily, perhaps lift stem seals and squirt some lube onto valve stem.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

Aussiebill,

Definitely worth a try. Exactly where is the valve stem seal, on top of the spring or below the spring? I am wondering if I have to remove the rocker assembly to access it. I am 30 miles from the truck so every time I get information, I have nothing in front of me to look at. Thanks for your suggestion.

Darrell Howard Whitefish, MT Outlaw 56 Ford F-100's

Stem seal is usually riding up high on valve stem below retainer, here we use WD 40 penetrate with little red straw like tube that pushes into nozzel, i,m sure you have similar type of thing there, its worth a try, then slowly rotate engine, you could lightly tap on valve stem tips to check for any firm resistance from sticking valve but generally all of the above works. I,m sure all the other guys do similar thing and could suggest other ways, try it and see, then go from there.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

The seal is inside the valve spring. Or that is where it is suppose to be. Reason I say that is because as they get old they become brittle and break. Going into pieces that you find under valve cover or in oil pan, or maybe even plugging oil screen pickup. I've heard of the pieces getting into the oil pump, causing it to bind and breaking oil pump rod that goes up to distributer. YOU DON'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN! Engine runs and you loose oil pressure. So watch your oil pressure gauge!

Ol'ford nutCentral Iowa

56 Vic w/292 & 4 spd.

When I find a bent push rod on any old engine, I pull the rockers off and mark them so I know which goes where. I then use something like Marvel Mystery Oil. It will dissolve carbon, varnish and rust as well. I start with the one that is stuck in the open position and after the oil has had time to penetrate, I tap it and see if it returns to the height of the rest of them. While I am allowing the oil to penetrate, I squirt oil on all the valves. I hit all of the valves a pretty good lick to see that they spring back freely. Wear safety goggles because keepers can come out of a stuck valve. If you get the stuck one as well as all of the rest of them to bounce back evenly when you hit them, it is worth reinstalling the rockers and proceeding from there. They should be adjusted close enough for an initial attempt. Unless all 16 valves move freely, do not attempt to start the engine. I guess a lifter could stick, but if that happened, you probably have other problems such as stuck rings. I don't want to sound discouraging, but the last engine I found with a bent push rod, I did as described above and it runs like a top. The one before that, I wound up pulling the head, found rings that looked standard on a .060 over piston, pistons too bad to even knurl, and a flaked cam. And I think this is about par. A 50/50 chance. By the way, the bad one was a 370 cu in GMC V8 which is a rare find and I would up buying a lot of stuff from Egge.

Kenneth

Fredricksburg, Texas

Does anyone have a good source on push rods for the Y-Block?

Darrell Howard Whitefish, MT Outlaw 56 Ford F-100's

I have a similar problem. I let my rebuilt motor set for two years without starting it at all. Tried to crank it just the other day and wondered why it was hard at first and then freed up. Anyway, one valve is stuck and it bent three push rods before I figured it out. Any ideas on how to free the valve?