VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc what's the copper pipe for????

I have a question(s) for somobody mechanical,,,,On the 216 engine,What's the copper pipe for?(The pipe below the manifold,,) and how hard is it to get off???,,,,,Mine is all banged up and pretty sqiushed(the result of putting an engine in a car)Can anybody PLEASE help me???,,,,,,53bel-air

The copper line is for feeding oil to the rocker arms.What you see is only the tip of the iceburg.On the left side of the block the lower end of the tube gets under low pressure oil and carries it thru the water jackets to the right side of the engine.It is behind the side cover. There it goes up and connects to the rocker arm oil connector.This line has special fittings where it enters and exits the block because it runs thru the cooling system between #4 and #5 cylinders.If not properly in- stalled it could cause an internal or external coolant leak.For now if it isn't broken.doesn't leak and the oil is coming up to the rocker arms I would be tempted to leave well enough alone.

I just changed mine cause it was clogged and I didn't have good oil feed to rockers. Chevs of the 40s sells a replacement kit for $17. It has new 3/16 oil tube and fittings. Bending the line was a little tricky, but not too bad. The hard part is getting the side cover back onto the other side with the gasket lined up. (Hint, get a cork gasket from Obsolete Chevy. The felt gasket I first tried leaked badly.)

Jim