I can not get one of my pushrods to seat properly on top of the valve tappet. Is it possilbe that this somehow came off or something. My car has been running pretty rough.

If I recall correctly, you have said that the pushrod is not moving up and down, and that the pushrod is in good condition. If this is the case the possibilities are limited as to what the problem is. Either (1) the pushrod is not sitting on the tappet or (2) the tappet is not moving up and down.

I would remove the rocker arms and replace the pushrod with a long dowel, making sure it goes straight down the hole. Turn the engine over by hand and see if the dowel moves. That will tell you which of 1 or 2 above are the case.

If the rod moves up and down, either (a) you did not properly get the pushrod into place or (b) the top of the tappet is worn or broken off so the end of the pushrod doesn't stay in place. You can try repositioning the pushrod, but I suspect you have already done this.

If the tappet itself is not moving, either (a) it is stuck in the sleeve or (b) the cam is not creating lift. You could try placing a long rod on the tappet and tapping lightly with a hammer to see if it is stuck in the "up" position, but that really seems unlikely given the pressure of the valve spring on the rod. Other options are a badly worn cam or a tappet that is completely broken in two.

Of all the options listed above, almost every one of them requires the head to be pulled to fix it. I suspect that is your next step. Please keep us posted on what you find.

Thank you very much, that may possibly be the most informative response I have ever read in response to one of my questions. I'm at work right now but I will work on the car as soon as I get home. Thank you again.

Might be bent ,roll pushrod on flat surface it will show up if bent. Badly worn adjuster screw can bind and flex pushrod limiting valve travel.

colin;

I wouldn't run the engine too much until you get this resolved...but I'm not clear on what is not seating...pushrod to the rocker, or the rocker to the valve....pushrod does not touch the valve directly....please explain in detail using correct terminology...

Good Hunting

The pushrod is not bent i already checked that. The pushrod is not seating on the valve tappet. What i mean by that terminalogy is that the tappet that rides on top of the camshaft is somehow not being seated atop by the pushrod. Maybe i am using the incorrect terminology, i got these terms from my Hanes maintaince manual. Basicly the pushrod will no seat on top of the "valve tappet", which is down below the head where the camshaft is. When i turn the engine over all via a wronch on the pully bolt, the pushrods move up and down accordingly except this one. Again the pushrod is NOT bent. I think I am just going to pull the head off again if i can't figure this out otherwise soon.

Sounds like the tappet/lifter is stuck in its bore.

colin;

That's what it sounds to me like also: Stuck lifter...and if the pushrod does not move as the camlobes come around, it must be stuck at the top of its travel...normaly the valvespring would have plenty of force to push the lifter back down (it shouldn't even need to!...the lifter should fall back down under just its own weight...that much friction is BAAAAAD...how long was the head off...did that lifterhole get rusted up?...what's the deal?

GH

The head was off for maybe 4 days not long enuf for rust. And when i put it back on and changed the oil and toped everything off it ran greatfor 10 minutes as I let it get to normal temp before tightening back to stock specs. I really am very frusterated with all this. I haven't driven this car more than a few miles for nearly four monthes with all the problems I have had and the little time I've got to fix all this. Would it have been possible that as I was lifting the pushrods out of there respective holes that somehow this tappet got messed up on it's way back down? All the other tappet drop striaght down where they are supposed to go, not this one. I is hard to look down such a tiny hole with the flash light in the way, an suggestions?

Of course, for that to happen the valve would have to be in an open position. If it is closed and not going up and down then that sounds like something entirely more sinister.

Take the pushrod out and look down and see if there is something on or wrong with the tappet. It's fairly hard to get anything wrong with the lifter and pushrod. Are these stock pushrods?

Yeah they are stock pushrods. I did recently have the head off of my car. It ran well for a few minutes and then ran very rough despite all good ignition, freshly set valve clearance and timeing.. It is hard to see down into there, but I will look again.

Yeah they are stock pushrods. I did recently have the head off of my car. It ran well for a few minutes and then ran very rough. It is hard to see down into there, but I will look again.

You can shine a light down an adjacent pushrod hole and it should light the one you are looking down fairly well.

PS - Take off the rocker arms and remove the pushrods first, obviously.