1955 Dodge poly head help

[Chiefpontiac77]

Hi everyone. I am looking for a little help with the engine in my 55 Dodge truck. I have had it for about 12 years, and bought it from the son of the original owner. According to him, the engine had never been out, and is original to the truck. I have been driving it during the summer, and it has been running great. All of the sudden, it developed a marked power loss, with some backfiring and noisy ticking in the top end. (I believe) I pulled it into the garage and pulled off the intake, valve covers, and valley pan, looking for a possible bent push rod. They all look ok, and spin freely on the lifters, except the drivers side very front of the engine lifter. It looks as if it is protruding from the block about 1/4 to a half inch further then all the others, and the push rod has pressure on it. Question being, as I am slightly unfamiliar with the poly, should the lifter be more into the block? I don’t see anything else that could point me in the direction. I believe it is a 241 poly engine, i have some pics of it. Thanks for any help with the ol fella. 

[Bryan]

It should be the same as all the others. If it's like my flathead, those little holes are probably to get oil to the valve stem.   That's the problem.

[Sniper]

The lifter goes up and down as the cam lobe actuates it.  What you are seeing may be normal.  try rotating the crank over and watch that lifter, it should go up and down.  When it is fully down there shouldn't any pressure on the pushrod and it should spin freely.

 

As for those holes, I bet you have a solid lifter setup and those are oiling holes for the lifter.

[54Dodgeguy]

Hi Chiefpontiac77,

I hope you have solved your lifter issue by now but if you haven't.  I have a '54 Dodge with a 241 V8 Poly.  Sniper's info should have helped.  Everything in your photos looked "normal" to me.  If the lifter in question did not free up it is obvious there is more trouble deeper into the block.  Should not be a major "junk the whole thing" type of issue but the valve stem guide may need some looking at.

I am not a "Chief mechanic" but I have had my '54 since '56 and done most of the maintenance & repairs.

Good luck.

[Chiefpontiac77]

Hi! Hey thanks for taking the time to read. So far, when it originally started, it was quite noisy, but after inspecting the valve train, I really didn’t find anything amiss at all, I re gasketed the top end, and put it back together and ran it just for a minute, and the noise is still there, but much quieter. I think I may have had a lifter collapse. I haven’t run it again since, but will soon, once all my snow is gone and I can push it outside the garage.