Problems with my 66 425 olds guys n gals.
i have a 1965 olds 442 clone with a 1966 olds tornado 425 engine. The engine has just been rebuilt with allll kinds of goodies from mondello performance. My only issue is it keeps eating pushrods on the rocker arm end of the pushrod. I have a mondello kit with steel tip 1.6 roller rockers. Mondello spring, retainer and camshaft and pushrod guides are from comp cams. EVERYTHING is from mondello and im trying to get all the info i can. Lynn is out of town until monday and im trying my hardest to get this thing fixed ASAP. I measured the distance from the retainer to the valve seal, over .130. The valve seal is unscaved and its only the rocker end that is gauling up and eating itself alive. Mondello sent me a second set of pushrods and i ran the new set for 20 minutes and im getting heavy wear. The rockers are junk from the fulcrum ***** wearing into the rockers and the pushrods are junk a second time. Tons of metallic and wear. Do you guys have any info on what could be the problem here??

 

Are you getting plenty of oil up thru the pushrods?

 

Your first problem is you bought from Lynn. Check all of the pushrods to make sure they are open and will allow oil to pass. Next is, do you have oil restrictors in the block? Pull the distributor and run the oil pump with an electric drill. It has to run counter clockwise for the oil pump to function. See if all of the rockers have a good flow of oil coming out. Is your rocker geometry correct? Causes a lot of problems if not.

 

Yes i do, i started the engine with the new pushrods in place at zero lash, just like lynn told me too do.. after it ate up the first set of pushrods. It took about 20-30 seconds for every single pushrod to have sufficient oiling after start up, Wich seems like alot of time but after that ran for 20 mins and thats what i came up with! Im so lost for words! Ive never experienced anything like it. I primed the oiling the first time before the first fire up and everything!

 

And sorry yes i allways make sure all my new parts are clear of obstruction before i install them, all brand new parts from mondello!

 

Ken,
I had the same problem a few years back on a Big Block Chevy engine. Went through two sets of the same manufacturers pushrods. It wasnt eating all of them up but most of them pretty quickly. I finally took one of the pushrods to a local machine shop that does hardness testing and it turned out the pushrods were not hardened at all I got a different brand pushrod and the issue went away. One quick test I have learned since then from the same guy is to just take a file and try to file the pushrod end. Try it on one of the ends that go to the lifter, they usually dont get much wear. If the file will do anything at all the metal is not hardened.

Mondello most likely does not make pushrods. I would find out what brand they are and find something different. Which part number were they ?

The biggest issue you have now is an engine full of metal. Truthfully should be taken completely apart and cleaned

 

bill,

the kit i bought im pretty sure was the SAR-490 but with 9.700” pushrods instead of the 9.900” like the description sais for the heads i have.

and yes the though of all the metal in the engine is not a good feeling 🥴

im allmost tempted to just buy a set of manley pushrods and a comp rocker ive had no issues with either of those brands.

 

I would just get everything from Comp. I have never had a problem with any of their parts. What does the pattern look like on the tip of the valves where the roller is hitting ? Is your cam a flat tappet or roller ? Just curious. I am getting ready to do a 425 at the shop but it will be pretty much stock.

 

I'm with Bill. Be sure you get the correct length pushrods. I'd also suggest deleting that "Mondello" phone number from your phone.

 

Yeah, do a search on "Mondello" or "Lynn Welfringer" to see what others have experienced in their dealings with Lynn.

Also know that Bernard Mondello has a reputable business that is NOT associated with the above business or person.

 

i as well have never had any problems with COMP i just assumed being they specialize in all olds stuff i would give them a try... but hey i guess we all learn the hard way sometimes. Super frustrating working Every night after your day job for months to pay for all these nice parts and have the guy put it together for you and you have these types of problems...

But anyway i did a hydraulic flat tappet part # JM-22-25. The valve tip has a pattern just below the center.. i thought they always needed to be perfectly centered

 

Picture ? Sometimes its not possible to get them perfectly centered. If it is narrow it is probably fine. Better than centered and real wide. One thing I will mention. You might want to order the Comp rockers first and see how they sit on the valve before you order pushrods. I have seen different brand rockers make a pretty big difference in pushrod length

 

i was pretty much expecting the same pushrods not being the same length ☹️ Pain in the butt especially with shipping times nowadays...

 

Swap rockers around as well to see if the pattern changes. Remember those are stamped, not machined so they may have some variances.