50's streight 8's

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

do the 50's streight 8 Buick engines have rocker SHAFTS or ball and stud?????

If one removes the valve cover and starts the engine and lets it set there and idle will it throw alot of oil around the engine compartment and so-forth???

How does the oil get to the valve guides to keep them lubricated???

[Guest]

always like to help a packard man step up in technology <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

the oil is pushed up to the valve lifters thru the push rods to the rocker arms from the lower part of the engine.

the series 40 had solid lifters, so the oil leaked out of the top nut and splashed oil on the valve springs. The rocker arm has an internal oil channel to lubricate the valve guides. (thus show in the shop manual)

The 50 series and up had hydrolic lifters like a newer car.

you can run a car at ide and not get much oil splash with the tappen cover off. If, you race the engine, you will see some oil flying.

why would a packard man need to know this?

[Mrbuick714]

?

[Buicksplus]

Tommy:

I must disagree slightly. The valve gear oil on my '39 straight 8 was delivered via an external oil line that ran up the right front side of the engine. It tied into the head casting and delivered oil by pressurizing the rocker shaft through one of the rocker shaft stanchions. This oil would return to the crankcase via the pushrods and other drain holes provided in the cylinder head. It was much later before Buick used any sort of stud and socket rocker arrangement, all their straight eights used a rocker shaft system. There is no direct lubrication of the guides with this system. Just splash from rocker action and oil dripping off the rocker shaft. You can run these engines at low RPM with the rocker covers off, there is not much splash at idle -- unless the rocker shaft is badly worn.

[Guest]

my 216 chevy six was that way. the 1/8" pipe running up thru the block.

I was looking at a cut away section of the valve rocket in the shop manual. It shows a oil channel inside, like a drilled oil line. I'm not sure if all of them were like that. But if it crank down the tappes to tight on adjustments, the oil will not flow.

So, the oil is ither coming up from the bottom or thru the rocker assembly, via a tube. I've never seen a oil tube on my 1950.

[Matt Harwood]

My '41 also has the oil tube. It flows from the oil galley by the camshaft and into a fitting on the head, and a second tube takes it from the block to the rocker assembly. Here's a picture of my engine that I took a few months ago:

Despite the sludge, you can see the tube running into the rocker shaft from the block. Here's another photo that shows the line running up the side of the block:

This design may have changed in later engines, but I would think that the holes for the oil passages would still be there--did they change the castings?

Hope this helps.

[Guest]

matt,

your picture look right, but I cannot picture if from my 1927 six.... I cannot remember which is which.

i don't have hydrolic lifters, so i'm not sure how they are feed.

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

Many thanks to everyone for the replies. I brought up this matter as for a comparison to the Packard V8 engine OHV oiling with rocker SHAFTS.

I can remove the valve covers and drive the car 70 mph on a HOT day for 8 miles round trip and never get a drop of oil anywhere EXCEPT on the internal deck of the head and lots of it. I am trying to determine if other engines with rocker shafts do the same. It has been my experience that most all engines i have ran with Valve cover removed will give me bath in oil at idle (like when adjusting valves) in nearly a few minutes or less and throw oil all over the engine compartment.

Anyone have an OHV engine ANY ENGINE that exudes plenty of oil like my Packard but does NOT sling it all over everthing????

[old-tank]

So what's your point? Packards don't need valve cover gaskets or valve covers? I've never had a need to run any engine with the valve covers off for more than a moment to establish that oil is or is not getting to the rockers.

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

I'm trying to DETERMINE a point. The Packard V8 engines have oiling problems. It is my conjecture that the Packard V8 does NOT get enuf oil to the valve guides because not enuf oil is splashing around. In fact NO oil splashes around. So, i am asking about other engines. For example: the chevy V8's will give a bystander a bath in oil real quick.

[Guest]

well, when i was smarter... in high school that is.,

i had a 216 chevy truck and the oil tube that runs from the pump to the tapped line was broken in several pieces under the tapped cover.

I drove the truck for a year before I look under that cover.

Everything was bone dry.

needless to say, the truck used a quart every 200 miles.

so, I'd guess if problems was serious, you would see some outward deteriation.

Again, on a Buick, if your tappeds are to tight, it will restrict the oil flow and splash. The more noise, the better.

[The Old Guy]

The V8s like the Chev oil through the push rods, and will give you a bath. The straight eights like the Buick oil through the rocker shaft, and if everything is clean ,you will see oil on the shaft and dribbling down the rocker arms. The Buick has a special fitting where the oil line goes to the head, and if you look at it you will find it has a very small orfice. This is done for two reasons. The first is to make sure that the oil pressure stays at acceptable levels, and the second to keep too much oil from going to the overhead.

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

from what i'm seeing the Packard V8 is wearing out valve guides at about 40K miles or sooner. I'm thinking some splash is needed rather than just running around the outside of the bottom of the springs. I mean, the springs will even stay dry. Do the springs on Buicks with rocker SHAFTS stay dry too???