Crappy end to an Awesome day in my maverick...

So there I was......
crystal clear skies, about high of almost 60 degrees today so me and the wife took the Maverick on a beautiful back road trek to Shelbyville and back (about) 80 miles round trip and she was running Sa-Weeeet!!!! And of course on the "Home" stretch....litterally the home stretch she starts with a gentle rattle upon LIGHT acceleration then quickly she turned to a dreaded knock..... off the throttle was quiet as a church mouse...the top end has always been loud (Very "Ticky") since i got her back in Nov. A dose of Marvel and she got considerably quieter. Was figuring a couple sticky lifters. After a $75 "Rollback ride" home for the last 8 miles I lift the driver side valve cover and find 3 bent pushrods.....All intake side #1,#2 and #4 substantially bent. Havent opened up passenger side yet. Oil still clean - No "Milkshake" so very good sign......Valve springs do not appear broken no parts laying around up in the top end at any rate....on a good note I now know that I Do have 1.7 Cobra Roller Rockers installed....as long as I didnt just trash them today... Anybody got any good pointers out there on this one?? This is "First" for me, I have had motors go with parts flying out from underneath, and out the sides but never this.....til today..... No anti freeze out the tail pipe either, oil pressure was steady 50-60 All day and just under 20 as I shut it down. Temp was 190 all day long as well. I am totally new to the SBF (Grew up as a Mopar/GM guy)

 

You stated the engine was a bit noisey when you got it, and allways has been.
PO may have over revved it/floated a few valves at some point, used the wrong length pushrods for the app etc...Do you know whats been done to the engine???
Cam/pistons etc...You may have weak valve springs on a couple cyls as well.High lift cams...Lots of Rs' and tired out springs can cause a wealth of problems. I would definitely start checking valvetrain geometry and condition of the valve springs to see whats up...Good luck!!!

 

Had the car since Nov 2012. No real history from previous owner. so have no idea what I really have till i get it torn down. was always very concious of rev's never swung it over 4,000 if but for just a second. Backroads would run 2-2,500 on freeway never got over 3,500. Reckon just got to strip 'er all down and start fresh...

But i put over 2,000 miles on er since Nov problem free til now

 

Pistons hitting the valves. Cam lift too high/ pistons not cut enough for valve clearance. Barley touching at low RPM's, higher RPM's they are smashing together, hence the tick that got worse. You will be lucky if all you bent were pushrods and not some valves.

 

it sounds like you had some valve spring bind or had the rockers to tight only real way of knowing what to do is figure out what you have for a cam it always seem they run the best just before they break good luck

 

Well started "digging" into the monster today, i now know that i have GT40P Heads to go along with the 1.7 Cobra Roller Rockers and as well I know now the cylinder placement is Nothing like a GM. I have bent Every intake push rod and #2 intake push rod is lodged down inside the lifter valley. The motor spins over freely by hand with no binding or clatter. So a really welcome and good sign. Got all the accessories pulled off the front today and should have the heads off tom. According to a recent "Google" search GT40P Heads are off mid 90's Fox Body Cobra's and Explorers and are good for around 300-350 hp with factory Cobra EFI and 1.6 rockers.....any body out there shed some truth to that?? Also that stock GT40P Springs are crap, will only support .400 lift cam. Wondering to fix what i have or scrap it all for aftermarket heads??

 

So you think all 8 intake valve springs let go at the same time? How hard were you pushing it with your wife in the car? I'd be looking at the timing chain maybe. Does the distributor spin when you turn the engine over?

 

Is the short block a roller block? (Roller lifters)

 

John Holden- NOT very hard with mama riding shotgun! Sure I let it breathe, but I was Far from cracking on it. thinking the pushrods been bent for quite a long time (PO) I got 2- 500 Edelbrocks on top of it and always thought it should be a lot more peppy than it actually was when i bought it. (8 bent intake pushrods sure explains less Pep) reckon the "Ticking" was loosly adjusted rockers. But until i yank the heads only speculating till i can verify valve marks on the pistons to prove otherwise.

Cam spins fine. (Rotor spun with cap off when i turned the motor by hand.) but maybe stretched timing chain.....never felt like timing was ever off. I checked it after I first bought it and was set to 8' BTDC @ idle and 22' @ 2500.

Am "Hoping" it to be a Roller motor, but again till the rest of the top end off can't tell. Manifold and heads will come off tom.

I could see the crank through the Distributor hole 2 M A stamped in the crank. Any takers on is this a forged or cast crank (is it worth keeping if in good shape)???

 

Since you don't know the history on the engine, if someone left the stock springs on those heads, and it's just a flat tappet cam, there's a good chance the cam is whipped.

 

With valve fully opened there should be a minumum of .060 between coils of inner and outer springs. If clearance is less will need to change retainer or the valve to gain more installed height, or change to a spring that will acccommodate more lift and you can check this with the heads still on the car to see if that is the issue

 

DaveB- Reckon a Flattened (Wiped) cam would give enough slap for the pushrods to bind up. Til i get the manifold off no telling if its flat tappet or roller. (hoping for a roller)

Billrogers- I will check valve spring clearance tom before heads come off.

Thanks you all! Really great info!!

 

Welcome to the forum from West Virginia.

 

Well after a couple months working on everything BUT the Mav I finally got into it this week. Got the motor/trans out. got the heads off and "GOOD NEWS" no valve marks on any of the pistons!! So i have that going for me. No piston to valve contact. I did swing by our local Ford machine shop with a couple of the bent pushrods to help me identify them as stock or aftermarket. (They are in fact Stock) I took some pics to try to upload but didnot work out this time around. Will try again on a later day. I did find the data code for the block and I have a "D20E-6015-AB" with 3F1 right along side that info. Any body out there shed some light on what block i got? I know it is an early one thinking 1972-1980 something.....Flat tappet cam. i reckon maybe the GT40P Heads are not a good fit for that early block?!? The Springs are single with damper, one piece retainer with two piece keepers. May be aftermarket? Maybe not?! Have to borrow a Damper puller tomorrow so I can get the timing cover off to find what cam I got.... More to follow......

 

That's a 1972 block