I have pressed tin plates under my rocker pedestals to channel the oil away from the valve springs. To quote from 'Ford Y-Block' by Eickman,

"Valve spring oil baffles were installed under the rocker arm shaft supports until May of 1956. A service letter at that time advised that they were no longer needed due to changes in the rocker arm lubrication system".

What changes were made, do i need them, and do i need to be concerned at how much will it change rocker arm geometry if i remove them?

Tia, Al.



South Australia

I would leave them on.I put mine back on when I rebuilt the motor.Nothing lost or gained by removing them.Keeps the geometry as it was originally.Not sure what "changes" were made but they do keep oil from building up around the valve springs and away from the valve stem seals.Remember this-every savings Ford made by NOT putting parts on one car was multilplied by the number of cars sold!More profits maybe?

  

My thinking parallels oldcarmarks. Similar to the rockerarm oil deflector trays, I think the bean counters decided that the camshaft fuel pump eccentric counterweight and the timing chain oil drip trough used on the early years of block production weren't necessary.

Conversely, note that FoMoCo did move:
- from un-posted 'G' heads in pre-May '57 production to posted 'G' heads.
- from the knitting needle type pushrods used from '54 'through ~ '59 to the tubular configuration
- to longer main cap bolts sometime in '59 production 'til the end of U.S. production in '64.

These production changes cost serious money and were done based upon information that was being reported in the field, I'm sure.


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

Something that crossed my mind about those deflectors. I wonder if the slightly shorter push rods are used with these to make up for the geometry change. It would seem to make sense on the surface but? I would think the longer push rods with the deflectors would change the rocker arm geometry quite a bit. Chuck

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

You may be right Chuck. 54/55 pushrods(used with oil deflectors from factory) are 8.296 long.56 and later(no deflectors) are 8.188 long.

  

Hmmmm... I hadn't thought about it, but I'm wondering IF the billet rocker stands that John Mummert shows on his web site are reversible because of the baffles or to compensate for the different pushrod lengths...

I think I'll save reflecting on the math of all this tomorrow...

Y-BLOCK BILLET ALUMINUM ROCKER STANDS

STANDARD HEIGHT, or INSTALL INVERTED FOR +.050"

PART # RS-6531-B set of 8

NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

You guys may want to remember that the springs need oil as a coolant. Drenching the valve guides may be a problem, But No oil will be an issue eventually as well.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

I've never thought about the cooling of the valve springs, Frank. DUH!

The baffles are intended to channel an amount of oil away from the valve springs on the early y-blocks during operation. I've always dismissed the elimination of the baffles in '57 as an engineering determination that they weren't required and the production cost saving as assuring their elimination.

When adjusting rockers, I've never paid particular attention to the oil flow path in the valve train area. Too, I've always reduced engine idle speed to make rockerarm adjustment easier. The reduced rpm serves to reduce oil flow and reduce the oil flying around quite so much.

Viewing oil flow in the valve spring area at different engine operating rpms with baffles on one cylinder bank and not on the other could be revealing. A set of steel valve covers with a narrow rectangular 'window' opening cut in the top surface might make this less oily...

Maybe I need to stop foraging for valve spring baffles when assembling y-blocks!


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

The oil baffles do help in reducing excess oil at the guides especially when umbrella oil seals are used. Regardless of the type of oil seal that’s used, my own preference is to use the baffles when available on iron head Y rebuilds. As has been mentioned, they were eliminated along with some other engineering features during the 1956 model year. As with most of the other items that were eliminated, it would appear they were done as cost cutting measures as all those changes were not detrimental in regards to the warranty and actually puts a measure of 'planned obselescence' back into the equation.

.

As Frank mentions, the springs being liberally sprayed with oil does help to keep them cooler and prolong their life. Even with the baffles in place, there does appear to be enough ‘misting’ to keep the springs cool and this is with the end bypass oil tubes in place. In the event the oil to the top end does diminish or even quit as a result of cam bearing issues, then the baffle issue becomes a moot point anyhow.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Note that stock rocker arms have two weep oil holes in them, one oils the adjuster ball and pushrod, the other is on the valve spring end of the rocker to oil the valve stem tip. I figure this weeped oil is what cools the valve springs, along with any mist that is present.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"