Charlie,

           Looks like a mismatch in the radii. How well do they fit together. Maybe try it with a good pushrod or check the ball sizes versus one that's working correctly. The oil situation wouldn't help, either.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Besides the other comments regarding the wear pattern, I’m thinking that the pushrod cup wore so quickly that it wasn’t hard enough to leave a wear pattern on the rocker stud.  Only bad screw I’ve seen in the past was one where the hex for the allen wrench wasn’t broached in the top side of the stud and was just a round hole but the screw was otherwise okay.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Do you think it will be a good idea to use one of the old push rods in this same location so that I don't risk sacrificing one of the new ones - only to make sure the problem is solved.  Lack of oiling as a result of an insuficient supply from the shaft isn't satisfying me.  #5 exhaust isn't shimmed and the hole appears to be in the correct position to line up with the groove.  Others had worse alignment with the hole, without worn pushrods.  I ordered replacement pushrods from John Mummert.  He said that he had sold shorter pushrods for the Dove rockers.  He had none in stock though.  I remember the instructions of some aftermarket roller rockers for a Chrysler emphasized a minimum distance between the pushrod and rocker for oiling purposes.  I wonder if this may be occuring on my #5E rocker for some reason.  Perhaps the hardened part of the pushrod got worn through?


Lawrenceville, GA

Charlie.  Using one of the original pushrods in lieu of a new one sounds like a good idea to verify if the 'wear' problem has gone away.  I'm hoping you just had a soft pushrod at this point.  Just double check the radius on the rocker stud and the fit to the replacement pushrod before reassembling.  Also double check that you're not into coil bind or that the retainer is not bottoming out on top of the guide but I would think either of these scenarios would be bending the pushrod rather than promoting a premature wear problem.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Well, I haven't paid attention to the mileage but I've had one of the other old pushrods in there for at least 200 miles.  No sign of trouble!  Tonight I put the last new one in.  So it looks like things are well concerning this issue.


Lawrenceville, GA

So is the final diagnosis a soft rod?

Andrew 56-Vicky

I'm really unsure of the cause. I don't think it was a soft rod. It had been on the old engine for 10k miles and looked good when I installed it in the new engine and worked fine until I installed the Dove rockers. It is the same cam, lifter, and pushrods I had in the old engine, in the same block, in the same positions. I think it is either oiling after installing the Dove rockers, as Ted mentioned, or maybe I got some trash in the cup when I installed the rockers.


Lawrenceville, GA