That's a good thought and it will make me feel better if they are soft because then the error could not be on my part. The thing I don't understand, if it is soft, is why it would have lasted about 5000 miles without showing any signs of premature wear and then, suddenly, failing. All of my lash checks have been good. That's what happened with the one push rod. I had it for about 10000 miles in the previous engine with no problems and presently, 15 of that set of push rods are running in the engine with no problems.



The screw is polished. That push rod and rocker are just as wet with oil as the others.


Lawrenceville, GA

Maybe just the ball tip is hardened on those particular adjuster screws - and when you go through the skin - she melts away. If that's the case -the surface hardening may be of a reduced depth on the failed parts.....????

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Some early doves I bought from gord in Canada did not oil correctly and scorched several pushrod cups. I then ordered a new set from Dove, sent them to rocker arm specialty and they installed bronze bushing, grooved an oil passage and they worked fine. I now get my rocker arms from Rocker Arm Specialty and they come set up with the bronze bushing already grooved and ready to go. No other problems except I had one rocker adjustment screw ball end break off which was no fun because it led to a valve spring break in Columbus and took me out of the race.

-Gary Burnette-

Steve, i feel the same way, mine are early Dove and had several melted ball tips and poor oiling characteristics, i believe Teds grooved oil slots on shaft help. I might look into rocker arm specialitys rockers.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

Charlie- Did you ever figure out what caused your pushrod to mushroom out?

Ol'ford nutCentral Iowa

56 Vic w/292 & 4 spd.

Nope. I don't know why any of it happened. Since I haven't had a repeat of any one of them, I suspect it's defective components or a defective person.


Lawrenceville, GA

I replaced the screw this past Sunday. And today, I checked the adjustment during lunch. Sure enough, something is wearing. Hopefully it's the push rod and not the new screw.

I visually inspected the rocker assembly when I replaced the screw and everything looked alright as far as oiling goes. This is great. Both vehicles having trouble and I have to drive the one least broken!


Lawrenceville, GA

The best rocker adjusters I've found are the original Ford jamb nut type. They're harder than glass. I have used them when all else failed. I agree with Steve, it looks like a hardness or heat treat problem. A lot of Chinese parts are surface hard but not thru hardened. That is the problem with Chinese lifters. They Rockwell perfect but it is just a thin candy shell. The substrate is so soft it can't support the hardened layer and deforms under load. Then the hard layer starts to flake off.

I have bags full of defective import rocker adjusting screws that wear just like yours. Some go bad in 50 miles. I have found noticable wear during cam break in alone. These import adjsters Rockwell harder than the self locking Ford adjusters but don't last.

http://ford-y-block.com 

20 miles east of San Diego, 20 miles north of Mexico

I sure hope Dove rocker arms and components aren't made in China. They're too expensive for that.



Up until now, I've only had push rod problems. This is my 1st screw to go bad.


Lawrenceville, GA

Charlie.

        Take one of the defective adjusters to a local steel heat tret shop and ask them to look at it. If John's (and Alan) right the material will not be any good either. Case hardening or a "Salt Bath" hardening may be all it's capable of. If that's the case you'll need to replace or better yet get Dove to replace them ALL.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart)