Update on Jake, he's at Cherry Point, NC, PFC and squad leader (18 years old and in charge of 10 other marines, talk about fast walk down the road of maturity, God bless the USMC) and got a tattoo of crossed M-16's. Okay, here's the car question: I am considering buying the roller rockers for Jake's GS. Has anyone else installed these and been happy with the results? What's the benefit of switching from the stock rocker arm ratio (1.5something?) to 1.65? Thanks, Steve
I installed TA rollers on one of my 350's last weekend. I am pretty happy with them, although I am thinking of going from hydrallic lifters to solids....... not sure, but gonna call TA and see if they would recommend them on a hyd. cam or not. Mine ar 1.60 ratio...... gives just a little more lift, but I don't see any other difference while it's running...... other than it seems to idle a little "easier" at 1000rpm than it did before with the stock rockers. Also, you will have to clearance the rocker shaft towers on the sides so the rollers don't rub on them........ I recommend doing it with the heads off, but if you plug all the holes and cover the entire engine up, it can be done on the car. One set I did off the car, one set on........ only took an hour for the ones on the car. You don't want the dust and shavings in the engine ...... at all!
hey mike been reading ur posts for a while now and i really like ur car. about you going to solid lifters on a hydraulic cam, as far as i know it cant be done. something about the hydraulic lifter taking up the slack and the solid lifter needing a certain amount of valve lash adjustment. sorry for the poor explanation but im not too technical a guy. anyway good luck to both of u guys:TU: ralph
No "official" numbers yet. I did run it with the Gtech though a few times and got these results: 15.3 with TA212, stock rockers, open 3.23 rear end, stock dual exhaust, stock exh. manifolds 14.7 with TA212, stock rockers, 3.90 posi rear end, stock exhaust, stock exh. manifolds 13.6 with TA288-94H, stock rockers, 3.90 posi rear end, 1 3/4 primary headers-2.5 mandrel pipes out the rear, Ported (PAE) heads. I expect no difference from the roller rockers, but the idle sounds a bit better for some reason. Might be the little bit of added lift from the 1.6 ratio ? Can't do the 1/4 mile runs on my secret road anymore....... the last run I made...... Johnny Law was waiting for me at the end of the road.ou:
I have heard of a few of the BBB guys using them with no problems. While it probably will not gain me anything in the normal rpm range, I can see the benefits of constant geometry at over 6000 rpm. I have had an issue with lifters crashing that I never want to repeat. They would bleed off and then pump all the way up, or just plain pump up, and take out valves. I replaced one valve in a fresh set of heads because of a lifter issue. I just dropped in a different set when I did the roller rockers until I can make sure the solid lifters would be OK to use with this cam. I'll have to get some free time this week so I can call Jim B or call Dave at TA and see what they recommend. It really runs good right now....... just want to avoid another problem down the road. Thanks,
Must have been "my day"....... he actually sat there as I cruise by, laughing and shaking his head. Needless to say, I beat a fast path to the shop and put the car away. I don't know if he decided he didn't want to chase me (which I wouldn't have run), or if he was on a coffee break or something. o No:
My engine is a 72 4bbl 350, 8.5 compression, rebuilt only once with only cleanup milling. Will I have valve to piston clearance problems if I intall the 1.65 roller rockers?
Steve, If you are running the stock cam there will be no clearance issues but you may sacrifice a little torque on the lower rpm range with the added lift. Is there a cam change planned or are you just doing parts upgrades?
Should be OK..... you will need to clearance the rocker towers though. They WILL rub! Like Bill said though...... you will lose just a little lower end torque from the added lift. Just put a huge cam in it...... to he!! with lower end torque! :idea2: ..... just kidding. :TU:
Mike and Bill, Thanks for the info. When the engine was rebuilt, a Comp Cam with a grind similar to the TA 112 was installed. The actual specs are: gross valve lift of .454 for both intake and exhaust, and the duration at .050 is 212. I'm not bothered with a slight loss of low rpm torque as the diff has a 3.9 ratio, so it climbs the rpm, no problem. Do you think I'll have clearance problems with the 1.65 rockers? Also, how did you fix the rocker tower clearance? And here's a vacuum question, before the engine was rebuilt, idle vacuum was 18, with the new cam it's 17. Will I lose any more vacuum at idle? Thanks!
You'll need to take a little material from the sides of the rocker towers. The instructions are on the TA page right here: http://taperformance.com/roller.htm If you want, I'll take a picture of what I did to mine when I take the covers back off probably next week sometime, when my lifters come in.
Thanks Mike, for the link. It really helps to clarify the issue. Yeah, that'd be great to see the pics of your handiwork. Thanks again.
Ok...... sorry it took me a while to post an update, but it got cold again. Weather was decent today, so in went the solid lifters. I also took a pic of the rocker towers and rockers for ya.
annnnd, for your viewing enjoyment.......... It's ALIVE........ ALLIIIIIIIVVVVEEEE! A little video of Zilla before we set out for a drive. It actually idles smooth at about 1100-1200 rpm, and not too bad in drive at 700-800rpm. Gotta get used to the ticking though. Set the lash at .007 Video is here: http://www.mikeatwood.fourguysauto.com/AtwoodsGS.wmv The sound sounds much louder than it is..... camcorder is quite sensitive
