MTFCA Forum

Since the Speedster project is now running, Its time to think about driving it.

I have been oiling the push rod guides and the valve stems with my little pump oiler. But it is a real mess each time. I know that this thing is going to be an "oily beast" but I hope to keep it to a minimum. The Rajo 4 valve has a valve cover but it is almost useless. There is no back to the cover and no good way to seal it at the bottom.

A friend suggested "spray grease" for the guides and rockers. I had thought about chain saw bar oil. One other concern I have is where the rocker arms meet the valve stems and push rod tops. There are no "cups" that the push rods fit into. Just a flat smooth surface that "rubs" the push rod top as the rocker works.

My squirt can works OK but I'm just looking for suggestions from more experienced overhead owners

I'm running a BB RAJO with a full length cover so I cut out a rather thick piece of cork material for a cover gasket to somewhat capture the oil mess - I manually oil the rockers & shafts with straight 30wt. prior to starting and I have a thick wool/cotton pad that I keep saturated to oil while running. After a couple trips, I remove the cover and wick most of the excess oil from the valve valleys - works for me for the last near 30 years now !

Donnie, I think that you told me that you intended to use a one piece RAJO valve cover, rather than the two valve covers that came with the head because you liked the look of the one piece cover, better. If I'm correct about this, the reason for the two valve covers furnished with the reproduction head was to provide a better sealing surface to the head and to have a rear cover that was NOT open in the back. You might have to reconsider and use the two covers, furnished with the head. If you did, you could drill them and install some drip oilers used on hit and miss engines.

RajoRacer wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 05, 2021 9:04 pm

I'm running a BB RAJO with a full length cover so I cut out a rather thick piece of cork material for a cover gasket to somewhat capture the oil mess - I manually oil the rockers & shafts with straight 30wt. prior to starting and I have a thick wool/cotton pad that I keep saturated to oil while running. After a couple trips, I remove the cover and wick most of the excess oil from the valve valleys - works for me for the last near 30 years now !

When I first ran my Poorman overhead, I didn't have a cover over it and the 10-30 sprayed pretty good thru the firewall while driving (total loss oil setup) Even after I got the cover I still used the 10-30. Think about it this way, part of the job of oil is to lube the other wash away the dirt and grime. Even with a more or less sealed cover over the rocker arms, using too thick of oil/lube isn't going to wash the grime out on a setup that is not plumbed in to the oil system. On the Chevrolet over heads, the troughs around the valve springs are kept about 1/2 full of oil for splash lubing the rocker arms and driver.

Having owned one of those neat 4-valves, I’d be tempted to run it without a cover. I’d use what is in my Ford oil can, regular oil with a bit of STP in it, that clings to the kingpins and such better. You could even fit a small oil cup or oiler with felt inside to the rocker arm stand. If you are going to drive the hell out of it, a cover would probably help, but your bug will only improve with a little more patina.

"but your bug will only improve with a little more patina." I am thinking that should be; but "you" and your bug....

Ok I didn't look quite that bad after a 60 mile drive, but the wall and seat around me in my Huckster were starting to.

Years ago, I had a early Chevy overhead valve engine that had a tin valve cover with a 1/2"+ thick felt pad that you soaked in oil and laid directly on the rocker arms. You just poured oil on the pad as needed, the motion of the rockers kept themselves and the valves oiled. No gasket on the tin, it just kept the splatter down and the pad in place.

I run a Rajo BB on my 1912 touring car and have had good luck with this system. typically in the morning when touring, I back out of the trailer and do normal maintenance. included in that is to take the valve cover off, and put about 1/2 quart of oil on the felt under the valve cover. after lunch I put about about 1/2 the sight glass worth of oil through the system. It seems to work good. I don't burn my hands after lunch on the hot valve cover and it is a much cleaner process.

A few years ago I contacted Larry Sigworth from Oklahoma about overhead valve lubrication. I recall that he shared that he had very good results using some kind a spray lubricant thus little or no need for the more messy oiling practices. I think Larry may have passed on but not certain. Mike

Billdizer,Spencer In wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 06, 2021 4:45 am

Years ago, I had a early Chevy overhead valve engine that had a tin valve cover with a 1/2"+ thick felt pad that you soaked in oil and laid directly on the rocker arms. You just poured oil on the pad as needed, the motion of the rockers kept themselves and the valves oiled. No gasket on the tin, it just kept the splatter down and the pad in place.

On mine I added split tubing around the edges. Helped keep a lot of oil in.
What ever lube is used and as was touched on, it has to be able to get to the valve stems also, so has to have some flow. Ok while my experience is with the Chevrolet over head, I don't think it would matter, I would follow the recommendations give at the time and was motor oil. In my OP, something like 600W or chain bar oil would be too heavy to flow and might just sit there, great for slow moving parts like the spring shackles, kingpins or tie rods, but maybe not so good for fast moving parts. Spray lubes are mostly cling type, so while might be ok for rocker arms(?), don't see that they would flow very well to the valve stem and keep flowing to lube them.

On my Fronty I have a thick (5/8") felt pad that rests on the rockers. Every 2 or 3 hundred miles it gets almost a cup of 10/30 or 10/40 oil. Same story when I used to have a 4 valve Rajo that had the cover with an open back. Has worked fine for me for 25 years.

m
My B Rajo has been performing double duty for me for 53 years. during that time I've had very few problems. I'll attach a picture of it after a days run, no messy oil problem. With a yellow chassis I don't need oil from the cylinder head to add to my cleaning duties. Daily routine while on the road; With a Ford script oil can lift the felt pad and oil both sides of the rockers, then the shaft. Then lay the pad back down and the same locations on the felt pad, just a stream across each rocker and a stream front to back on the shaft. That's it. Regular engine oil (I'm still using non detergent 30 wt.) Probably use 1/3 to 1/2 of the oil can, never really kept track of how much. If I wasn't so lazy I'd go down and shoot a picture of it right now as I haven't touched it since our last outing of about 80 miles, but I found in my file one that was shot after about 40 miles on the race track at Laguna Seca in Monterey. Some times I have to wipe a little black residue at the base of the cover and top part of the head just below the cover

I don't see radiator support rods in the 2 pics. Yellowracer, hard to tell from your pic. Have you modified your rods for clearance to remove the valve cover? Or remove the rod to pull the cover? I am setting the hood on my racer/speedster and running a chevy head. Mine seems to fall within an inch or so over the valve cover top side.

Suggestion re the hood rod; Install studs at firewall and radiator. Then weld on open ended slotted brackets at each end of the rod. Then all you would need to do is loosen 2 nuts and remove the rod. The rod being a little shorter then needed and one stud a little longer so length could be adjusted.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

The 4 valve rocker arm cover is unique that there is no back to it. It does help some as to the "spray" of oil from the rockers. I was also concerned about the thicker oil not going where it was needed, so I guess Ill stay with my 30 weight oil Im using... Its not un-managable, and I guess that is part of the story of the speedster/overhead part of the T history.

Terry, I still have the 2 single heavy rocker covers. They would be easy to seal off to the head. But I have installed a single rocker shaft instead of the two single rocker shafts that came with the head. The two single shafts are a weak system and can allow the rocker towers to flex front to rear . The single shaft solves the problem. The only way I could use the two single covers is to cut a 5/8 notch in the two covers to slide down over the rocker shaft. I may end up and do that and then make some form of a door or seal to cover the notch when in use. I could use them when on longer drives, and the original cover at shows or around the house. Since the two single covers are a "fantasy" item made during the 80s 90s era I do not mind modifying them .. And they are really cool looking .....

dmdeaton. I can see the hood rod in the yellow racer photo. If you zoom in on the photo it is there. I have a "mile" of room for installing my valve cover ...

Thanks again for the input .....

On a low radiator car, with the Chevrolet conversion, there is a mile of room. He must be running a much lower type radiator if there is not a lot or room.

[image][image][image][/image][/image][/image]The rod you're seeing is the control rod for the adjustable upper hood vents. There is no radiator to firewall rod. The only upper support that my radiator has comes from the shell. The center panel of the hood is attached to the firewall/hood former by 2 screws and nuts at the rear and to the radiator shell by 2 screws at the front. Unfortunately that's all the radiator get for upper support. I'll attach a picture showing the hood vents. I'll have to take some closer up pictures of the hood vents because this is the best one I've got. Zoom in. (the background is Oakland and San Francisco.)

Ed aka #4

Hey Ed,

was that pic taken up on Skyline road?

Tim

Tim- my guess is its up on Grizzley Peak.

Hi Tim you're close, up on Grizzly Peak Rd. Off of Skyline. A Tour that I planned a couple months ago for the Bay Area Horseless Carriage Club.

Ed

That looked like a Nice tour route. Rich and I took #36 out skyline years ago, I just remember the view from up there.

sorry to hijack the thread.

Tim