The engine in my Cobra is a highly modified 351 Windsor with Edelbrock Victor Jr heads and hydraulic roller lifters. When it was assembled, my mechanic measured and selected pushrods that would allow the proper lifter preload to be achieved when the non-locking nuts that retain the rockers on the studs were torqued to spec. Now, several years later I find I can't get the proper preload when the rocker stud nuts are torqued.
I assume one solution is to go with slightly longer pushrods and locking nuts on the rocker studs. Here are my questions:
- Is this a reasonable solution to this problem?
- How much longer should the new pushrods be?
- What locking nuts do you recommend?