So my machine shop guy told me he had 8 1.6 non-self-aligning comp cam roller tip rockers just laying around that he was wanting to get rid of. He said he'd order me in 8 more and sell them all to me for real cheap. Good deal till I find out what he really gave me was 7 1.6 roller rockers by TRW, and 9 by Comp Cams. Great. And what's even better is that I just noticed that one brand is self-aligning while the other is non-self-aligning. I have pushrod guideplates and was under the impression that self-aligning roller rockers wouldn't work. Is this true or can I just go ahead and use this f-ed up mismatched set my bonehead machinist sold me?
(Great. This gives me a whole lot of confidence in the rest of the machinework he did for me)

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91 Z28
Come see The Vicious...

 

PIA, thing is the SA ones are more expensive, he shouldn't have an issue with changing them for you.

 

Unfortuantely they're already on the engine and the engine is in the car. 3 hours away. So I would have to drive, go get them, and bring them all the way back to the machine shop to exchange them. Go 3 hours back again, install and readjust them. Real PITA. So it'd be easier to just use them if they'll work.

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91 Z28
Come see The Vicious...

 

Hmmn, my opinion is you wouldn't want to run SA's with guideplates, only reason I say that is the SA rockers are made to stay put in one position and the guideplates may cause pushrod to force it to a conflicting position on the rocker, possibly causing undo wear.

Maybe post another question such as "SA rockers with guideplates?" Maybe you'd get more action on the thread. This topic kinda sounds like you're looking for an opinion on which may be better to run.

 

Well to tell you the truth, I am currently running Crane Gold Race series 1.6 Self-aligning Roller Rockers on my Trick Flows that came with guide plates. I did a lot of inspecting of the smoothness of the operation of the valvetrain before I went this route, and I am using Trick Flow Specialties Chrome-Moly One-piece hardened pushrods just incase.... well something happens. The only reason I did this is that I already had the Rockers and I was on a pretty tight budget at that point - so they got installed. I thoroughly inspected the pushrods and all valvetrain componants after the first few minutes of running the engine to make sure nothing was binding as well and all was well. I have a little bit more than average valvetrain noise (ticking and whatnot) but I have heard from more than one person that the Crane Gold series rockers are good for being noisey. It is nothing crazy though - not like you can hear it with the hood closed on the street or anything.... .

So the short answer is that you can get away with SA rockers AND guide plates sometimes. A thorough inspection of valvetrain feeplay on the pushrod is in order if this is your only option. Let me make this clear though: I DO NOT CONDONE OR RECOMMEND THIS, I just happen to get away with it on mine.

Also, I noticed that you used the term 'roller tipped' and 'roller rocker' to describe these units. Are they stamped steel roller-tipped rockers or are they full roller fulcrum and roller tip pieces? I would strongly suggest against you mismatching these two types of rockers as they would likely cause some wear issues on the valvetrain componants (ie cam, lifters, pushrods, springs would all be wearing differently if some were just roller tip and some were full roller).

So there ya have it. It can be done, but it is not the best idea in the world.

Laterzzzzzz

Good Luck

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1987 GTA L98 MD8
355, TFS Heads, LT4 Hot Cam
My GTA

The Minnesota F-body Club

 

I would double check everything possible if I were you. Unfortunately, your engine is in the car and a lot of the stuff he did is near impossible to verify...... Many of my friends have been screwed by dumba$$ machinists...........

Good Luck

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1987 GTA L98 MD8
355, TFS Heads, LT4 Hot Cam
My GTA

The Minnesota F-body Club