Rocker Arm Assemblies

[malibujohn]

As I plan and research my FE engine I am completely lost as it concerns rocker assemblies. Who makes them. What types are available and what is the best for an engine using Edelbrock performer upgrades?

malibu

[Charlton]

I have limited experience and knowledgd about rocker arms, but here is what I found. My 428 came with Dove rocker arms and 5/16 dia pushrods. Dove rockers have a shaft with alum. rockers and no roller bearings. The whole assembly seemed lightweight. ie. small locking nuts and small adj screw. I mentioned 5/16 dia push rods because the balls on the rockers were too big and cracked the pushrod cups on several rods.
I am now using Erson rockers. They have roller bearings and heavy duty adjustment assemblies. I also installed 3/8 pushrods.

My heads were installed with studs and nuts instead of standard head bolts. I had to remove some material from the rocker arm mounts so they would fit because the nuts are taller. Hope this info helps. Steve

[chopper]

I had a similar experience to Charlton. I had a set of Dove stands and rockers on my engine and they lasted less than 600 miles. The Dove FE rocker arms have no bushings or bearings; it's bare aluminum riding on the steel rails. The worst one had wear in the hole measuring almost 1/8 inch. When I tried to get hold of Dove to find out what was going on, they blew me off with their usual "nobody else is having any problems" line. I retained the Dove stands and rails because they have the end stanchions to eliminate the cantilever deflection on the outboard arms, but replaced the rocker arms with Harland Sharpe. The HS arms have bronze bushings pressed into the rockers. No further problems to date, approximately 2500 miles.

[a427sc]

The only thing wrong with the Dove stands/HS rocker set up is the poor color combination. The burnt orange rockers clash with the blue stands.

You do need to watch the valve train alignment. I had to raise the stands a little to get the proper roller pattern on the valve, then get custom push rods.

McFEz

[thundercat]

428 CJ -- I used Erson rocker arm assemblies and Smith Bros. 5/16" push rods. I have Edelbrock aluminium heads with studs to mount rockers. 3000 miles NO PROBLEMS just take your time aligning each rocker to its valve with shim kit from Erson.out of the box some did not align with valves very well. Steve McD

[igofast]

The Erson are the best i have used i see that Flatlander is selling them for $585 best price i have seen!!!

[SCOBRAC]

John,

The very best set you will find will be found at Precision Oil Pumps, in Madera, CA (559) 645-1951. They have a website but I don't even think they have a photo up they are so rare.. They are not cheap but they are the very best. The rocker arms are blue anodized billet with bronze bushings, roller bearing ends, the rockers are drilled for oiling at the roller as well as the push rod.. The rocker arm uses a ball / ball rather than the weaker ball / socket, which is prone to break.

Options include (matching) billet rocker stands, billet rocker shafts, billet spacers (replacing the springs) and bronze shims.. Each set is shipped with a rebuild kit..

Total cost for everything was about $900.. You can get just the rockers and chromoly push rods for $485..

Photo's are coming.. I'm too busy working to pay for this stuff to install them.. Doug Garifo, the owner is a good guy and has other fun stuff for FE's..