After much consideration over rumors that old stock rocker arms are not so compatible with stainless valve stems and crying over the price, I broke down and purchased a set of roller rockers from Doug @ Precision Oil Pumps (POP). Besides the price, the only other concern I had was the increase in ratio from 1:73 to 1:76. After reading on the FE forum I was somewhat satisfied that the slight increase would not cause the valves to wack the pistons. The rockers require honing to ensure correct tolerances on the shafts being used. I purchased a brake hone kit from NAPA for $35 and spent about 10 to 15 seconds per rocker to achieve a nice fit which I checked with the shaft. Use lots of oil when honing, I used the cheapest 10w40 that I keep laying around as a multi purpose lube.
When using solid spacers over springs, you must set up the rollers to sit directly over each valve stem by using the supplied shims. I used some professional assistance when measuring the shims and checking alignment during setup;
They (someone) recommended using a pin in place of the clip to ensure the oil plugs don't exit the ends of the shafts. I used an appropriate diameter nail trimmed to length and deburred. Once installed, the shaft end stands will prevent the pin from exiting its hole.
The new rockers require special ball/ball pushrods. They have different diameter "balls" on each end, larger ball goes to lifter. They are also a little shorter to accommodate the adjusters of the new rockers.
I used the older valve spring splash shields with the drain valleys, but I drilled drain back holes in the areas behind the head bolt similar to the newer style of shields. The drain valleys required considerable modifications to get clearance with the edelbrock performer rpm manifold. I used a die grinder and several fit checks and grinding sessions to get them to fit. The also require a little tweaking on the sheet metal to ensure clearance on the springs and rocker arms during full range of motion.
Got the manifold gooped up and installed using arp hardware. a couple of the bolts require a crows foot to torque to 35 ft lbs due to clearance. Also installed the edelbrock water pump (not in photo) and started installing the pre-set rocker arm assemblies.
More to come as the build blazes on at a snails pace...
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