Need help installing rockers. I'm so confused.

[Dbeck002]

Alright i read a lot of info and heard a lot of advice from some engine builders but its easy for them. This is the first time im installing heads and rockers and i dont know where to start with the rockers.

So far i torqued the heads down and the lifters and dogbones are in place. I layed the rockers down on the heads and poured some oil on them to keep them from rusting. Now i just need to measure the pushrod length, i have a pushrod length checker and am ready to do this.


P.S When i use one of the stock pushrods for gauging purposes i notice that the roller on the rocker tip is to one side of the valve stem, its not dead center like it should be. How do i fix this?


Experienced ones please chime in.

 

[txstang84]

are your guide plates centered up? we had that problem with my friends AFR's as well, we had to loosen them and slide them over a hair or two. as for pushrod length, since you're running stock base circle cam, stock type lifters, and AFR's, they should take the stock length pushrods...but double cking never hurts...

I ck'd out your website-nice mods very well done

 

[Dbeck002]

Thanks man! I will check the guide plates and move them over a hair because some rockers are not centered. Thanks.

 

[5spd GT]

Yep you need to use the guideplates (torque them with the studs) once you find the right center. You want the best geometry possible. Take your time with it...

I use stock pushrod length with my AFR's and FTI cam (quite large).

 

[Dbeck002]

Ok i moved the guideplate over to both extremes just to see how much room i have to play with. I found some position to work, but my question is this. Do i adjust the guideplate while the nuts are down on the rockers? or do i adjust them when the rockers are just laying on top of the pushrods and valve stems.

Right now i tightened down each stud and rocker nut for a test rotation and the result was both rockers are off the valve stem a hair, as a matter of fact they come off the valve stem towards eachother. beacuse the rockers are in pairs, i dont know how to fix this lol... its quite weird. they arent drastically hanging off the side but you can tell they are not exactly in the center.

Also one rocker is a little but more forward than the other. its not coming off the stem, but its just sitting a little but more in the direction of the header than the other one. What do i do in this situation?

 

[txstang84]

...i'm starting to lose my faith with AFR's quality control...

you should be able to move those plates around a little bit in just about any direction so that the rocker is centered on the valve stem tip...

after you've achieved as close to perfect as you can get, torq down the studs to recommended spec (they should be about 35ft lbs, IIRC-someone else ck this)...then ck all the alignments again, and press on from there with your initial lash adjustments...

which can also be found on about a billion threads on here..

 

[Dbeck002]

Is it ok if the guide plate is in an obscure orientation? Like one side of the plate is up and the other side is tilted a little. Just as long as i get the roller tips centered on the stem... I just want to know what my options with the guide plates are.
I thought 60 ft-lbs was the rocker studs spec.

 

[5spd GT]

60lbs for the rocker studs. Use blue loctite underneath.

Put the guideplates in whatever position (it shouldn't be too extreme) to get the best center on the stem.

You setup the valvetrain (go thru the stud adjustment procedure) and then you adjust the guideplates against the pushrods as little as possible. Just enough to get it where it will ride on the stem. I would turn the engine over manually when doing this to see what it does under motion.

You don't use torque on the stud mounted adjustments (I never have)...you use the zero lash method and turn it 1/2 turn (that is what I did anyways).

1. Remove the valve covers, and pick a cylinder you are going to set the pre-load on. Only do one cylinder at a time.

2. Rotate the engine in its normal direction of rotation (clockwise) and watch the exhaust valve on that particular cylinder. When the exhaust valve begins to open, stop and adjust that cylinder's intake rocker arm.

3. To adjust, back off the intake rocker arm adjusting nut and remove any tension from the push rod. Wait a minute or two for that hydraulic lifter to return to a neutral position. The spring inside the lifter will move the push rod seat up against the retaining lock, if you give it time to do so.

4. Twist the intake push rod with your fingers while tightening down the rocker arm. When you feel a slight resistance to the turning of the push rod, you are at "Zero Lash". Turn the adjusting nut down one half to three-quarters of a turn from that point for street applications. Use 1/8 to 1/4 turn for race applications. Lock the adjuster into position. The intake is now adjusted properly.

5. Continue to turn the engine, watching that same intake valve/rocker you just set. It will go to full open and then begin to close. When it is almost closed, stop and adjust the exhaust rocker arm on that particular cylinder. Loosen the exhaust rocker arm and follow the same procedure described before in steps 3 and 4 to adjust this rocker arm.

6. Both valves on this cylinder are now adjusted, and you can move on to your next cylinder and follow the same procedure again.

There may be some initial valvetrain noise when the engine is first fired up but once oil pressure has stabilized and the engine heats up, it should quiet right down to a normal level.

Remember that some racier camshafts will have a mechanical sound to them and will not be a silent as factory units.

Good Luck...just do what you got to do practically to keep the roller tip as much centred as possible on the stem...

 

[Dbeck002]

Thanks for all the help.