specifcally early Porsche engines in the 356 models

Huh, that is odd, unless someone is trying to scam you.

This is an old trick used by car dealers to reduce the noise of big ends in a worn or damaged engine. DO NOT BUY IT. It will cost a fortune to repair.

The Truth is, some Porsches had wood inside the Hollow Steel Push Rods.

But few Porsche is have push rods. All modern day Porsche is have overhead camshafts which do not use push rods. The cam followers ride directly on the camshaft & relay the motion directly to the valve.

So l am thinking someone has their modern day facts screwed up. The only Porsche is with push rods r the horizontally opposed four cylinder engines in the 356's. They did have wood in them. The push rod supplies oil to the rockers arms via a hole on the inside of the push rod, the slug of wood moved back & forth & acted as a pump to supply the rockers arms oil during idle. l bet there r a few engines using them, but most of the rebuilt engines have done away with them because of better oil pums installed during overhaul.

Added: l just spoke to a freind at work & he had one in his office & brought it to me to look at. The wood was still whole & would work if it were in his 1954 356 Speedster.

it is not wood, it is made of phenolic material.(looks like wood). On engines which uses pushrods instead of camshaft lobes to open/close the valves phenolic materials are used as pushrod guides.

l have a 1965 356C and have No wood other then the nardi