I bought a 1968 440 this past weekend.I opened the valley pan and found a bent push rod.The rod seemed to bend a little more as we tryed to turn the pulley by hand.All the other rods looked fine and only the one rod that was bent slightly though I would not reuse it.The rods have a cup at the end.I was told that the engine was rebuilt and was ran for about a 100 miles and all the pressure was taken off the springs and the engine has sat for 4 years.It was rebuilt with new bearings,lightly honed the block,originally had only 52,000 miles on it.What would cause one rod to bend? And should I replace all the rods or just the one, and which ones and where to buy them from? The engine has 906 heads with Isky roller lifters #E6263H and DC purple cam 509/ 292.Thanks Chris

Lots of reasons only more investigating would uncover....Burnt/stuck valve...Engine over-reved....Incorrect legnth pushrods...Misadjusted valvetrain...And the list goes on....

Typically, pushrods become bent due to interferance. Inspect the engine over closely, concentrate on valve to piston clearance and spring bind.

I am new to this how would I go about this?? Thanks

Begin by removing the spark plugs, then with a breaker bar and socket, turn the crank over by hand. It should turn freely with no binding, If you encounter a problem, stop and remove the rocker shafts one at a time and try again, if the problem still persists, its time to remove the heads. Which if it were me, I would do as a matter of course, in order to visually check the pistons and valves for damage. Get a good book and take your time, troubleshooting an engine can be a fun winter project.

Thanks I will try what you said.And although I did'nt want to remove the head it might not be such a bad idea. Thanks again!!

Find a machine shop that wants to work with you and be ready to take the entire thing apart. Sorry about your luck. I've played with these "rebuilt" purchases before and they aren't fun. Next thing you know you take one rod cap off to see how things are and it is scored and then you take a main cap off and it is scored and then you are starting over from scratch.

Somebody turned the engine over with the rocker shafts undone and a rod got stuck.