351m bending pushrods?

[68swb]

Hey guys, ( i know the year is off but it is still a ford) I have a 78 w/351 that keeps bending pushrods, it is not the same push rods either, i have read that these engines are known for doing this if they sit, but it seems like everytime i start the truck for the 1st time it bends a pushrod. after i change the push rod it is good until it sits for a few days then have to start all over again and change another pushrod. I have changed 9 so far. What can i look at to narrow the search down to fix the prob.? i have not checked oil press yet, but it dont rattle or knock. Thanks for the help guys...
Also, on the 79' i have with the 400 in it, it only gets started about 1 time every week and i dont have this problem with it......

[fordman]

here is some generic information. when replacing a push rod it must be the proper length as the old one plus any where that may have taken place in the rocker socket and a worn lifter. bending o f a puch rod could be caused by a number of things such as wrong timing making the piston hit the valve and bending the push rod. oil pressure can also wear down the rocker sockets . since yours is doing everyother one kind of thing. it maybe that there is carbon build up or whatever getting stuck in the system making it do this to the old worn weak ones. maybe you should replace all of them this time and see what happends. that is the end of my guessing to the common type of stuff.

[68swb]

thanks for the reply that is kinda all of what i had in mind aswell, the motor was a brand new crate engine that was installed into a truck that was never started after about 10 years of sitting. Was removed from the truck and installed into a 4x4 and now we are having this issue. It runs great when all the cylinders are working as they should. so, going to have to do some more testing to see what it ends up being....

[68swb]

Update on this issue that we where having. 1st we where having a sealing prob. with the drain plug so we changed the plug and it didnt help, so we removed the pan and found that the nut on the inside of the pan was not flush with the pan. so we changed the pan w/ another we had and it fixed that prob. But when we had the pan down we noticed that the pickup screen was stopped up.... so we removed the the pump and screen and changed that aswell.... put it back together and now the problem/ problems are now fixed. the issue was oil press.... now its fixed... yeah.

[fitzwell]

valvesprings.

P.I.T.A to take them out just to check, but that where my bet is...

Can be changed on the vehicle, with about 6 ft of rope & a # 912 K-D tool. Country, but it works...