How many of you guys have put a cam in with 1.6 rockers while keeping your stock heads? Some post say you can, some people say you can, others say it wont work.....Well will it? Ive put in a cam and purchased some 1.6 rockers(non-aligning) cause someone told me that I have the narrow pushrod holes so I didnt need them but Im not going to pulll my heads to elongate the holes....will I have a problem? Should I just sell the ones that I bought and get some 1.52's?

 

It depends on the lift of the cam. How big is it? It is possible to elongate the pushrod holes with the heads on the motor, but slightly more difficult and you have to be careful not to get any shavings into the motor. Also what's the casting # on the heads?

 

The cam is the in-famous LT1,,,,,, so 447/459 ..............the head casting number I have is the 081's

THis is an old picture of the springs/rods before I put in new 510 lift springs......and from the push rod holes someone told me I didnt need self-aligning rockers...so I bought 1.6 roller tip non-aligning.......what should I do?

 

That comes out to .489" lift on the exhasut side which should be fine on those heads. With the pushrod holes it depends, you might be able to get away with them, but then again they might have to be enlongated. You'll have to test it, put in a lifter and pushrod on one of the exhasut lobes and put some pressure on it while having a friend rotate the engine. As for the rockers, I would have gotten the SA ones, but you can use the non-SA with the small pushrod holes. They weren't really designed for it, but they work.

 

my stock rockers were not self aligning...so the ones I got should work, correct? am I going to have to get different ize push rods or can I use my stock rods? I am very motor dumb! I just got caught up in the HP stuff......

 

Are you sure they're not SA? They should have two small "rails" on the outside of the tip. There is a possibility that they aren't though, it's just not common. If it were me I would tap for studs and put on guidplates, but that's just me, I like to be safe. The ones you have will work since it is such a small pushrod hole, but if it were any bigger (width wise, not length) you would need SA rockers or guidplates. I wouldn't use the stock pushrods since they're pretty cheap. Summit has Comp Cams pushrods for $30 and they're hardened for use with guidplates (or small pushrod holes in your case). I hope I haven't confused you, if you have any more questions about anything, just ask.

 

You have the right rockers and you don't need new pushrods.
You don't need guideplates.

You can elongate the pushrod slot in the head yourself with a
common 5/16" rat tail file that you shorten and put in an electic drill.
It will elongate the slot quite easily. Do not make it wider.
You will have to lay down some rags or towels in the lifter valley
to catch any iron shaveings from reworking the pushrod slot.
Plug the drain holes in the ends of the heads too with raggs to prevent any shavings from going down there.
A magnet will help pick up any shaveings from fileing the slots.

 

Cool! I hope your right, so I have the right kind of rockers and I DONT have to get a different size pushrod....less money to spend!



What kind of place carries that file? Lowes and such?
If I was to go that route and lengthen my pushrods hole, how much do I need to make them? 1/8 or so? It shouldnt be that much, HUH?
when you guys use MM measurements I have no clue what your talking about.

thanks

 

Heres a pic of my stock rocker...its not SA....no rails or anything...flat and smooth where it contacts the valve.

 

no problem with it. i did the LT1 cam and 1.6 roller rockers non-SA on mine and had no clearance issues. here's the tech article i wrote on it. http://www.fl-thirdgen.org/rockerswap.html

 

Thats what I wanted to hear.....you did the same thing Im getting ready to do and had no clearance issuses with your pushrods hitting...id you have the same style heads as I do? so I should just be able to put my rockers on and be done with it....thanks for the info!

 

mine are 083 heads. no matter.

 

so you dont think the 083's may have bigger pushrod holes?

 

nope. just put them on. turn the motor over by hand 2 full turns looking at the pushrods as they come t oful lift. either they'll touch the spot closest to the stud or they won't. but i still see no problem. for the most part al lthe iron heads have the same pushrod holes.

 

excellent! thanks for the info....!:hail:

 

no problem