Just did the first oil change on my newly purchased '67 122 and there was very fine metal shavings in the old oil. It was the consistency of very fine sand, no large chunks at all, and I would guess amounted to a teaspoon. Is this normal?

hi there, i dont know how much metal you see. but every oil change on any car i ever had, showed miniscule particles of metal if i hold the drained oil container at just the right angle to the sun. and the cars lasted long after that. good luck

It's normal. For an engine with some severe internal damage going on inside. Normal wear won't produce visually mettalic debris, jsut a sort of microscopic sludge. If you are getting shavings something has gone from bad to worse inside that motor.

I'd be skeptical of that motor lasting much more than a couple of hundred miles more without needing some sort of repair.

I'ts not necessarily the *WORST CASE SCENARIO* of a a bad rod or main bearing, it could also be a lifter/lobe having a severe disagreement - which means taking the head off and replacing the cam and lifters. If metal shavings are ending up in the pan from a lobe going flat it should be obvious to the eye - pull of the valve cover and the coil wire, and crank the motor round and round while watching the lifters one at a time. If one moves noticeably less than the others, bingo.

If it is the bottom end, continuing to drive it until it completely conks out could result in needing a new crank and rods, possibly a new block too.
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I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.

Not normal IMHO... could be the oil wasn't changed for years, and the damage will stabilize now that new oil's in there but in my experience you've likely got severe damage to something - likely rod bearing, I'd guess. Not the end of the world, just an excuse for a good rebuild. But see what happens with the new oil. If it stays clean & metal-free, and there's no knocking, and compression's half decent, run with it. Just not too far from home the first several times.
-Chris