56 No oil to valve train?

[Dave Christensen]

I am getting ready to start my 56 motor for the first time. I have turned the oil pump with a shaft connected to a drill motor for about 60 seconds. I have good oil pressure on the gauge, but no oil inside the valve covers.

On a 56 there is a flat cut into the side of the distributor shaft housing to allow oil to pass by the distributor for oiliing the valve train. I am not putting the distributor into the engine when I am turning the oil pump. Can this prevent the oil from going to the top of the heads?

Any other suggestions on what is wrong?

thanks
Dave Christensen

[Dave Christensen]

Re: 56 No oil to valve train?

P.S. My oil pressure gauge is pegged at 60 psi when I run the drill motor (~600RPM) on the pump.

thanks
Dave Christensen

[Clem Z.]

Re: 56 No oil to valve train?

turn the engine over with a wrench as you prime it i have seen it take 5/10 min.for the oil to show up. if you did not fill the lifters before you installed them it will take a while because edge orifice lifters are oiled by the oil going past the block lifter bore and the lifter to the hole that fills the lifter and this is a very small area. also you must you use a primer that looks like a distributor housing to get oil to the lifters.

[Dave Christensen]

Re: 56 No oil to valve train?

Clem,
I made a primer from a 56 distributor housing that I just tried, with no success. It makes sense that the engine should be turning while I am trying to prime it as the oil passages probably do not line up on the moving parts. Until I get a helper to do this with me, you don't think that this is anything to worry about?

What about the 60psi oil pressure? I got the pump from the guy that did the machine work for me. He said that he gave me a high voluem pump and the 60 psi is to be expected.

thanks
Dave Christensen

[Bill W.]

Re: 56 No oil to valve train?

If I remember right the cam on 55 .265 dad a flat spot machined into the rear bearing .without this there would be no oil to the top is a 56 the same?

[Clem Z.]

Re: 56 No oil to valve train?

just turn the engine 1/2 a revolution prime for a while,turn another 1/2 turn and prime some more and do this till you see some oil upstairs. 60# sounds ok to me with a primer and cold oil. if you did not fill the lifters it will take a while. before you try and start the engine i would oil each rocker arm pivot with oil to make sure you do not get a dry start. i always coated my rockers and balls with moly kote when i was putting them together.

[Pierre G. Joly]

Re: 56 No oil to valve train?

When I rebuild my 56/265 last winter, I installed a new cam and had to have a notch cut in the rear cam journal to let the oil up around the rockers - that's the way the 265 was designed. I also had to install a special rear cam bearing with two oil holes in it. Once this was done, I could get oil at the rockers with the oil primer.

Pierre G. Joly
Ottawa, Canada

[Clem Z.]

Re: 56 No oil to valve train?

the best way to check to see if you have oil coming up to the lifter oil passages is to drive the oil pump with just a straight shaft primer so you can look down the hole where the distributor goes into the block and see if you see oil shooting into the hole from the rear. that will tell you that the oil is getting to the lifters.also some early distributors did not have a oil passage groove all the way around the distributor housing and if the distributor is not install correctly you will have no oil to the rockers on the passenger side of the engine.

[Dave Christensen]

Re: 56 No oil to valve train?

When looking down the distributor hole, while priming, I don't see any oil squirting out of the passages. I have not rotated the engine though.

I do have the special 56 bearing with hole, properly lined up, and I milled a notch in the cam bearing. If the notch in the cam is not lined up with the hole(s) in the bearing will that stop the oil flow to both valve trains?

thanks for you advice.

Dave Christensen

[Clem Z.]

Re: 56 No oil to valve train?

if you have the bearing holes lined up correctly and cam milled you should be OK. i forgot about the cam notch,i was thinking about the early BB that have a groove machined into the rear cam journal that lets oil flow all the time. pre oil your rockers and start the engine and check for oil to the rockers.

[James F.]

Re: 56 No oil to valve train?

David,
More likely the holes in the rear bearing were not lined up with the holes in the block rather than the camshaft flat not aligned with the bearing holes. Always use the '56 distributor housing when priming the engine. Make sure the orientation of the distributor is close the "correct" orientation. This will insure the distributor shaft groove is in correct position. I know for a fact that it will block oil to the rocker arms (can't remember which side or both)! If the oil passges are lined properly and the camshaft flat where it is supposed to be, you will see oil at the rockers. Pierre gave you good information as did Clem when he suggested you rotate the engine slightly (1/4 turn at a time is good) as you prime. Regards,

[Dave Suesz]

I was on the freeway when this happened...

Moving from Florida to Pennsylvania. Pulled into an exit to get gas, and suddenly at LOT of squeeaking came from the engine. I was able to discover -no oil- at the valves, but not why. After the 200 mile flat tow, I discovered the chain was worn, allowing the cam to walk forward, sealing the rear hole of the rear bearing. I put in a new chain, and a cam "nose" to guarantee it never happens again.