VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 216 rocker arm oil feed line

Hello Everyone,
Has anyone used Cof's oil feed line replacement kit for for the rocker arms of a 216 ??

I purchased a kit and it appears, at least to me, to be a solder less replacement. The kit contains two block fittings, two threaded caps with ferrels and the copper tube.

It didn't fit well on mine. The compression fittings made the line stick out too far. We ended up reusing the original block fitting by unsoldering the old line and resoldering the new. Some say they had no problems making it fit so maybe they're more talented than us.

Hi Dave,

Welcome to the 21st Century. I replaced my oil line in March and did it all with solderless fittings. They seem to work well and everything is easy to fit. I bought my lines and fittings from Carquest. I did try to use my old fittings but didn't have enough soldering expertise to trust that they would not leak. The following is the discussion on Chevy Chat as I was seeking advice on what to do:

1941 216 oil line

I highly recommend that the line be replaced on an engine rebuild. There was quite a buildup of oil residue inside my old oil line that had not been removed in the hot tanking of the engine when it was rebuilt. I have over 500 miles on my new engine and have not had any oil/antifreeze problems.

Good luck, Mike

P.S. The biggest reason I had for not using solder was that the diameter of the fittings was loose around the oil line. I didn't think the solder bond would be that strong. I also noticed that the extra engines I have (41, 47, 49) all had solderless joints on them on the oil pump side. I also had problems finding a new suitable fitting for soldering, and didn't want to use my old fittings which were disfigured in the removal process.

P.S. #2 I, like Tiny, did have fit concerns with the compression fittings. However, I resolved the issue by prebending the oil line 90 degrees (on the push rod side of the engine) before installing it in the block with the compression fittings. There is a valley in the push rod cover that accommodates the extra room needed for the bent oil line so it won't touch the cover. The old oil line serves as the best pattern for the bends and length of the pipe, but do add a couple of inches to each end for adjustments. Also get one of the new copper line cutters that are real small (about 2" in length) for smaller diameter pipe. I hand bent the line on the oil oil pump side.

Hello Mike, Tiny,

The 216 in my '37 MD is a '38 reconditioned short block. When I removed the head for a valve job, I discovered the line was loose at the fitting for the rocker arms. When I disconnected the line I also discovered it was ever so slightly short. The ferrel was severely distorted from it being stretched to reach.

I toyed with the idea of cutting it at the half way point between the block fitting and the rocker arm fitting and adding a compression fitting and a longer line to reach the rocker arm fitting. My reason being that I wasn't comfortable with having someone else performing the soldering or my ability to perform the soldering.

So I was surprised to find the kit I ordered was a solder less type.

I have only done three but all were soldered. I have not had a problem with this method. There seems to be a concern about the strength of the solder. My water lines in my home are copper lines soldered together. There is 60 pounds of pressure and never a leak. I would trust it to hold much more. You could also use silver solder if it worried you. I think it makes a much neater job.

Chevrolet sold a line and all the necessary fittings, no soldering required. I installed quite a few of them and never had a problem.