Hey gang..
Wishing to tap into the collective... I have a friend with a '68 Charger R/T. He's been going through push-rods for the fuel pump like no body's business. He replaced the purple-shaft cam he had in it for nearly 15 years. After that, he's gone through two different cams, two different fuel pumps and about 5 different fuel pump push rods. All situations end the same, the push rod is damaged and worn down. When he replaces the push rod, he claims it moves freely in the guide hole. One local suggestion is the oil he's putting in now has no zinc in it. They suggest Royal Purple.

Personally, I've been changing my oil over the years and have never had a push rod problem. There are countless 440 running around and I don't see a rash of fuel pump push rod failures....

Thanks for any insight.
Troy

What brand pushrods is he using? What cam is he running?

get a new confirmed hardened p rod (maybe even a low mile oe one made way back if all else fails). (not sure which new one to recommend) but I have faith in Dave Hughes'stuff if he offers them. there was an comprehensive thread on this awhile back if you can retrieve it. Always want enough zinc but the p rod is the #1 prob. EDIT MP cams have ALOT of quality control probs also (& valves)

Your friend might try the brass-tipped pushrod from Mancini:

http://chucker54.stores.yahoo.net/fupupubheen.html

There is also one made from solid bronze, can't remember who offers it.

I would look for a NOS rod. I have seen them on ebay. I would not buy any low quality replacements.

I would be wary of any NOS pushrods on ebarf considering it's a currently available part still from Mopar . A few years ago mopar had an issue with the pushrods and a rash of failures , no idea if the sysytem has been purged of these bad rods , I use original rods and never had a problem .

Troy one thing your friend needs to remember is that the metal is not just evaporating into thin air , tell him to check the inside of his oil pump to see where it's been going .

The lack of zinc in the oil will do it. I'll have to take a pic of some of the ones I've collected. They are over .250 different in length, worn from lack of zinc.

In addition to the lack of zinc in new oils, and the quality problems of the Mopar rod, what kind of fuel pump is he running?
The spring pressure may be too high in the pump or may be binding causing too much wear..
My be guess would be the lack of zinc in the oil.
Be sure to run oil with extra wear additives, like Valvoline Racing, or Brad Penn...
The fuel pushrod would be the least of the worries if the oil breaks down and the cam/ lifters start wearing out...

Find a seasoned fuel pump push rod from back in the days,it should be 3-1/4" long. Tell him to stay away from new Mopar rods. They are scary bad.

Just fired up a 383 that was built by a local shop. Ran the initial break in, then an additional 1-1 1/2 hours a couple days later for some carb tuning, timing tweaks etc. Then upon taking the car out for a test drive it quit.
After swapping out the fuel pump with no success the pump rod was compared to a "core 383". The failed rod was 5/16"shorter. The"core" rod is running.
So is it really possible to have a fuel rod fail that quick? We have Brad Penn break in oil in the engine. Should I be suspecting internal engine damage? The motor has no other signs of problems , even the valves are quiet.

you want to look at the lobe on the cam and make sure it is ok. Yes the rod will go that quick , once you loose the hardness it just eats itself up. CHANGE YOUR OIL .....

Talk to Howard at RacePumps. Pretty sure he makes them for BB Mopar. He is a good guy and I would have no concerns over quality coming from him.