I think you can get it WO taking the heads off. Plug the hole below where you are drilling/coat the bit w grease/duct tape etc to collect errant shavings & if you turn the bolt you can use a higher grade one. EDIT turn the drill slower to keep shavings from being flung out

I dawned on me yesterday as to why these W2's have this problem. I reckon the rocker stands were delivered per the standard configuration and have been subsequently milled down flat for the W2 rocker stands (aluminium blocks). This would have effectively removed the area for oil to reach the stands in question.

Anyway, he has now oversized the hole around the base of the bolt and widened out the area where the oil gallery comes up through the head. Hopefully this will provide sufficient room for oil to pass through the head into the rocker shafts.

Will fire it up later today and report back. Still have to do the other side, assuming it has the same issue.

Back in the early 80's when I did a W2 motor, I fried some arms and pushrods from lack of oiling. I had used the bushed arms from D/C and also the shafts plus the semi-finished pushrods. I did some checking and it turned out that even though the shafts were from D/C for the W2 application, not the regular heads, the oil holes were miss drilled 90*. The arms would have had to be straight up and down with the rocker tip pointing at the crank to get oil. By chance I had contact with one of the gents who designed the heads for Ma Mopar, Lee Muir at Chryslers west coast skunk works Shadow Racing, and he told me that Mopar made a bunch of these shafts with this screwup and did nothing to remedy it. I ended up replacing some arms, both shafts, some pushrods and ground in some light grooves into the shafts for oiling. With the heads assembled, stick a wire into the oil hole that squirts the valve, when the valve is closed, and see if the arm and shaft holes line up. If they don't, bingo! Just because D/C makes the stuff, it doesn't mean its going to work properly. Lee Muir developed these heads with the King, #43, and it was a MAJOR HONOR to meet this guy who did all this neat stuff way back in the Can-Am, Formula 5000 and REAL NASCAR days. This was the engine that was originally in Diego Teds, my old, Duster.

Hi All,

Sorry to exhume an old thread but my mate has come back to me with some issues.

Easy question I hope - does the hole in the shaft need to intersect with the hole in the rocker through some part of its travel to get a squirt of oil to the top of the pushrod, or is there (or should there be) sufficient pressure there to provide oil to that area. I suspect the answer is the holes need to align but I'd like some clarification.

Thanks

Shannon

I did not go back through this string but if you make sure to have the notch in the rocker shaft end down and forward on the left (drivers side) and down to the rear on the right (passenger side) side of the engine all will be well. If you don't have oil to the top then you have a misaligned cam bearing or oil galley plug missing. Remember that the engine only oils to the top in certain positions of engine rotation and then to alternate heads. Both do not oil at once.

Howdy, thanks for that.

Yep all of that seems to be correct and we definitely have oil in the shafts, but there's a couple of rockers that appear to be dry(er) than the others. However the notch is more of a grind mark than a notch (Mopar shafts).

In particular it appears that the offset (intake) rockers are more affected than the straight ones.

There's a long and painful back story to this regarding using econo rocker shafts and having to oval them out to fit race W2 arrangements etc. etc etc so my question really is as simple as;

Does the hole on the rocker arm, have to come into alignment with the hole in the shaft, for it to oil the pushrod?

On mopar engines big or small block the stamped rockers are all offset one way or the other. Put the left hand rocker in left hand right in tight hand and work your way around the vehicle. I always start on the drivers (left) side. Left towards front on left side and to rear on pass side.
Pictured is small block:

Yep got all that, we're OK with that.

It just appears to us that a misalignment of the two holes in the rocker and the shaft isn't allowing the oil to escape to oil the top of the pushrod. There appears to be oil everywhere except at the top of the pushrod.

I've attached a picture to try and explain what im on about!

Shannon

Oh OK I see what you are sayin. The hole(s) could very well have been drilled wrong. I would check another set of rockers to confirm & you may need to redrill em at the right clocking. On a side note iirc the DC manuals want the ball to be 9/32" below the rocker tip for the oil stream to be aimed correct and a straight line from the hole like a laser beam in a bullet hole goes right alongside/touching the surface of the rocker arm pad that contacts the valve stem and Hughes engines has an informative orange sheet on pushrod length/alignment etc. That's all I know. Post how it goes. EDIT The small holes in the bottom side of the shaft(s) you have them offset slightly (15 deg) toward the valve side correct? and the only other holes in the shaft are the (5) top/bottom large holes for the mounting bolts. post where the (2) holes in the rocker arm are (the (1) on one side for the pushrod cup and the (1) on the other side for the valve stem tip)