[Baba O'Riley]

Car is a ‘71 Formula I’ve had 30+ years. It’s a YS code 400, original block / heads but recently rebuilt by a longtime local shop.

Four years ago, when the motor was close to rebuild time, I had a rocker arm come loose while driving. It’s on the passenger side – the fourth rocker from the back, fifth from the front. Instead of sitting crosswise to the head the rocker was lying diagonal, and so loose I could move it with my fingers. I bolted it back onto the pushrod and thought that was that.

As I said the motor got a long-block rebuild last year but the other night, the exact same thing happened with the new motor. Same exact rocker. (The rebuilder replaced the pushrods but re-used the rocker arms.)

The weird thing, of course, is that the same thing happened with a tired old motor and then again with a just-rebuilt one. Both times it happened at highway acceleration. Banging noise, loss of power, and this time it damaged the oil dripper on that side – it’s now bent at the front and the front mounting pedestal that bolts the dripper to the head broke at its base.

Some guys on this and other boards say these oil drippers aren’t really necessary, but this is a stock motor and Pontiac must have had these drippers under the valve covers for a reason. Unless you guys say don’t bother replacing it, I’ll hunt down an undamaged one. Thoughts?

After the rebuild I asked the mechanics: does the car need to come back at 500 or 1000 miles for you to re-torque the heads, adjust the valves, and so on? They insisted with the new rebuild kits that’s no longer necessary. Again, your thoughts? What in the valve train could cause this to happen before and after a rebuild?

Thanks in advance to everyone and have a great Christmas.