This might be more of an opinion question than anything else, but:

How do you know when you need to change your heads from pressed-in rocker studs to screw-in rocker studs?

And I don't wanna hear "When the pressed in ones are getting pulled out" lol

I mean, before I build my engine, I'd just like to know how to know when its a good idea to change to screw-in, or if the pressed-in ones will work fine.

 

If you got the engine apart it's a cheap upgrade. Not just becuase pressed-studs can pull, but if you ever break a stud (over-rev a gear, etc.) you can just unscrew the busted stud and screw in a new one.

Another cheap upgrade (of a flat tappet cam, not a roller cam) is the Moroso lifter valley pan. It'll retain the lifters in their bores if you ever snap a pushrod, break a stud, etc. Very handy- saves yanking the intake to drop the lifter back in it's bore. It will often require very minor cutting/grinding to make it fit (every block is a little different) but it's nothing you can't do with a hand file in your garage. It MIGHT be able to be fitted to an aftermarket roller cam motor (with taller lifters) but I haven't actually tried it so I won't comment about it. A factory roller cam motor already has it's own retaining plate, so you wouldn't need an aftermarket one.

 

i change whenever i'm running anything other than stock spec cam and springs. if you want a number anything over .47 lift. since the factory pull out studs fail with weak factory springs and stock lift cams there's never a bad time to switch to screw in studs.

 

Cool, good to know