I am still not sure exactly what caused this failure. But it wasn't piston to valve contact. The only contact was the #8 piston and valve after the lock and retainer were destroyed and the valve dropped. Maybe lifter failure because of the spring pressures I am running? :scratch:
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How much spring pressure are you running?

 

I think it's 185# on the seat and 425# open.

 

That's freakin crazy !!!!! I would think if it's spring pressure it would've just made the hyd lifters, solid....for a little bit. Not destroy the push rods. I worked on a car that sat for like 12 years and the valves all stuck in the guides and bent all the push rods just like that. If the valves move and no valve to piston damage....were the push rods stock?

That's just crazy

john

 

I wish. The pushrods were new and measured for this application. I am not sure what went wrong. I don't think the valves were too short which would have made the pushrods too short. Maybe the lifters weren't the best and collapsed and the body got stuck in the bore. Maybe I had bad luck. I am not really sure at this point. I would love to know for sure, but I will get new springs, locks, retainers, etc., and rebuild and double and triple check everything. I guess I hoped something would be glaring to someone else and point it out to me. Live and learn.

 

Could the rockers be hitting the valve retainers ??

 

are the poly locks tightened down in the pics ? i have never seen them be outside of the nut. seems to me like said before

either that or you AND your "engine builder" thought that the rockers were pedestal mount and cranked them down. to me, wayyy over in ct, they look like stud mount. go to no lash and tighten ~1/2 turn, tighten poly lock and snug up.

 

The geometry was obviously off. I am just not sure which caused the initial problems. It had +.050" locks and the bottom of every roller rocker appears to be very tight to the retainer. This is normally caused by the tip of the valve is being taken away from not using the right length valve. Some rockers definitely made contact with the retainer. I "think" the valves were too short which, having +.050 locks, mad the run out incorrect on the valve stem, which made the pushrod too short. I also think some lifters collapsed at about the same time. That is why the locks stick out so far. At least this is my guess. 93wannabe, you are correct. Normally I like an 1/8th of a turn to a 1/4 turn for correct pushrod length.

 

Not sure about this but my hyd setup that was in my 347 that I had only had 320# on the open side. Sounds to me either the geo.. is off or too much open pressure. Just my .2$ worth... I also had to change my rockers and go with a comp pro magnum one to clear the retainers...

 

either that or you AND your "engine builder" thought that the rockers were pedestal mount and cranked them down. to me, wayyy over in ct, they look like stud mount. go to no lash and tighten ~1/2 turn, tighten poly lock and snug up.

You are so insightful. lol

 

Springs coil bound? How about retainer to guide clearance?

 

I know I had just over .1" for coil bind, so plenty. Retainer to guide I am unsure of.

 

i try did you damage anything else inside from all the shavings ?

 

This where I was really lucky. The broken lifter stayed in the valley and the broken retainer stayed in the head. I even still have great oil pressure. Of course everything will be cleaned and reassembled just to be sure.

 

I would check your valve spring installed height for sure, looks like coil bind to me. Cool pics though!

Nate

 

g/l with the next set

 

Installed heights are in the 1.870 - 1.875 range

Spring pressure at the recommended 1.850 installed height is 150-155

Spring pressure at the current installed height is 145

Coil bind occurs at 1.115

With your lift (.659) and the current installed height (1.1875) the minimum spring height (open) is 1.875 - .659 = 1.216. This gives you .101 clearance for coil bind.... basically a mile

 

Did you measure the spring coil bind? I had some springs from my trickflow heads say the coil bind was 1.10, and I compressed them on a bench and the were binding at 1.16-1.18. Never seen that much damage from valvetrain before. I ended up putting some Manley springs in to fit my cam.

Nate

 

Also, you need to check between the bottom of the retainer, and the valve guide/seals. Sometimes your springs have clearance, but the retainer can bottom out on the guide. Hope this helps.

 

It looks like I used Ford motorsport lifters and those failed. The spring inside deteriorated quickly and almost became solid. I found this is a known problem when running higher spring pressures. My fault for not being thorough about my research. Live and learn.