I'm getting close to switching to a roller cam in the big block!

[Kern Dog]

Almost 5:00 and i am Just now digging in.

 

[eldubb440]

Almost 5:00 and i am Just now digging in.

exactly

 

[1 Wild R/T]

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Almost 5:00 and i am Just now digging in.

Tognotti's??

 

[Kern Dog]

Tognotti's??

Here is a picture from a few years ago.

Sometimes I like to stroll through the place to look around.
Cleaning, measuring and adjusting sure takes time. I dont know why I had to shave the hold downs now when they have been fine for years. Maybe I have been lucky and dodged bullets by running these so tight. Each group of rocker arms and spacers have .020 clearance. I torqued the nuts on the shafts to the same 35 ft/lbs that PRW called for since the hardware is the same size.
Unless a crisis comes along or I injure myself again, I should be able get a good chunk of work done tomorrow.

 

[ckessel]

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Almost 5:00 and i am Just now digging in.

You got Deez Nuts!

 

[RemCharger]

Oddly, now with the rockers mocked up on this ‘906 head, I have plenty of clearance.

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Maybe the studs do make a difference? The rockers and spacers don’t touch the stands at all on the iron or aluminum heads.

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I do have what I need as far as studs but I need 6 of the nuts.

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The lengths are different.

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The shortest ones could be a little shorter and the long ones could be a bit longer but they will work.

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Someone offered freebies? I missed that part.

Can you bottom the too short ones and still get most of the nut on them?
Just plop the VC on with no gasket to see if the long ones need a trim

 

[Kern Dog]

I had these studs in these heads some time ago but at some point, I replaced them with the ARP bolts. They cleared the valve covers but I don't know by how much. These are the only valve covers I've had on this engine. Heck, I bought them for my first 440 in 2002!

 

[RemCharger]

Be careful on the corner bolts!!
That's why I like the heavy black felpro rubber composite gaskets. They don't squish. And give you added height.

 

[Kern Dog]

Like these??

These are the only ones that I use on my Big Block engines.

 

[RemCharger]

Exactly.

 

[eldubb440]

the Prius absolutely screams speed shop

 

[PRHeads]

Is that Tognottis the same one that was around in the early 80’s?
I’m trying to remember the name of the street it was on……. Fulton Ave maybe?

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Is that Tognottis the same one that was around in the early 80’s?
I’m trying to remember the name of the street it was on……. Fulton Ave maybe?

Well, not really the same.....In the eighties it didn't cater to imports.... And trucks were much less of their business... But yeah, same location.... Corner of Fulton & El Camino...

 

[not so famous bob]

With the pushrods here, I hoped to get more done. I had almost 3 hours out there today and barely got much to show for it.
I gave the rocker shafts a wipedown but did not clean the insides. Thanks for the reminder, I'll pull them apart and douche everything before final assembly.
The pushrods did arrive this afternoon and they all measure as ordered.

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Take the overall length of 8.817 and subtract HALF of the diameter of the 5/16" pushrod (3.10 divided by 2 + .155)....

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This length should get me adjusted with the advised 3/4 turn (.0375") preload with the adjusters tightened right where the Mancini Racing guidelines are.
Here is where it got frustrating today....
These rocker arms have been in this engine for years. Back when they were new, I had to take a few thousands off the edges of the hold downs to get some operating clearance for the rocker arms. They started off fully blue anodized.

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You can see where some of the color has worn off. Totally normal, nothing to worry about. When I mocked up the rocker arms with the other shafts, I was able to get a steady .020" clearance on every section between the holddowns. I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to bind anything so today I set about measuring in between every hold down.

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I don't know why but I kept coming in way too tight with hardly any side to side clearance. I backed off the adjusters enough for them to have plenty of pushrod play but I kept having to sand, test fit, sand, test fit the clearance.

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I don't know exactly why I was able to get plenty of clearance before but now I'm fighting for it. The only thing different is the shafts. If there was too much clearance in one section and too little in the other, I'd blame the hole spacing in the shafts. As usual, I tend to blame myself rather than the parts until I am sure that I am doing everything correctly.
As I closed up shop tonight, the 2468 side has been clearanced enough to work. The PRW instructions stated between .015 and .020. Mike from B3 Racing said that there is nothing wrong with being a little wider than spec, you just may have a little more valvetrain noise. I don't recall the Mancini Racing guidelines other than You want some operating clearance to avoid binding.
Once I get the 1357 side set to proper clearance, I'll pull them all out and do a thorough cleaning.
Thanks again for the reminder. It is easy to forget things when you're frustrated.

I leave a .010 to .012 feeler gauge between each set of rocker arms while tightening down ,all pre set up for valve alignment --------works for me...
also beware of the corners of the end rockers , you may have to clearance the corners of them , if 2 on each head are not diff. , may hit the valve covers....jryi

 

[Kern Dog]

I'd be real surprised if I get any interference at all since I've used these rocker arms and valve covers for years.