Erson Roller Rocker Assembly Backordered

[Barry_R]

I've been hearing "two weeks" from Erson for 6 weeks now....

[SantaFe66]

RodKnock,

Have you looked into Harland Sharp roller rockers? Nothing wrong with them that I can see. I am installing them on a 390 stroker build on Ebrock heads and will use either the HS end stands or the Precision Oil Pumps stands. Think they are available right now.

Paul

[RICK LAKE]

Rodknock Have you looked at Garrett rockers? They sell 2 types, One has the body that looks like Dove of Comp cams with a bushing body and roller tip. The other is a full roller that looks like FE Max or the $1,200.00 Shelby named ones. # 541-259-2514 You can do a search for them. They are under Garrett Machine & Welding, Or Garrett Machine Performance. They are under rocker arms on the second page of the goggle search. They have end plates and couple of different mounting setups. It depends on the heads. Did you try Flatlander Racing for the rockers? Somebody must have a set for sale? Rick L.

[RodKnock]

My427, I did a little checking on Precision's rockers. They're good, but were described to me as being not quite as strong as the Erson's.

SantaFe and Rick, I'll check into them. I'll also check with Flatlander today. I saw that they had the Erson's listed. I'll check on them today.

With the amount of money being invested in my engine, I would prefer to either get the Erson's or something better. What I don't want is something inferior. It's not an item where I want to save a buck or two.

What about Jessel's?

[blykins]

What about T&D's?

[RodKnock]

At the moment, if this Erson backorder goes on and on, T&D is my next choice. As Rick said earlier in this thread, I'll need new pushrods, machine work to the heads to mount plates and of course the rockers are more expensive. Does anyone have an approximate cost to make this switch, if that's the way I go?

I know Jamo endorses T&D's. Nothing but the best for Jamo.

[RodgerH]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

I did a little checking on Precision's rockers. They're good, but were described to me as being not quite as strong as the Erson's.

Rodknock,

I'm running the Precision installation on my 526" Shelby w/Edelbrock heads with a fairly radical hydraulic roller cam (246/256@.050, .655 I&E lift) and fairly stout spring pressure (510 lbs open) and have had no apparent problems.

I'm curious, who were the critics, and more importantly, what were described as the weaknesses? Was it based on factual experience (failures) or opinion?

Rodger

[RodKnock]

Rodger, no one said that the POP's had any problems. They only said that the POP's are close in strength or almost as strong as the Erson's. No weaknesses, problems, factual or anecdotal data were given to me to substantiate that the POP's were superior, inferior or the same as the Erson's.

How many miles do you have on your Shelby engine? Assuming that I get rockers someday, my engine will be a 482 Shelby with Edelbrock heads. My cam will have a duration of 242/248 with .618/.638 lift.

[My427stang]

Rodknock, I am actually running Erson on mine with an almost identical cam, even though I have used POP in the past.

I like the Erson better due to the needle bearing pivot. However, having had a bunch of engines come off my engine stands, I'd say the T&Ds snd Jesel are overkill for you, not to say I wouldnt run them , but they twice the money at least and with just over .600 lift I think it'd be money down a hole

If you dont want POP or some other bushed rocker, I'd wait for the Ersons, or call DSC and see if he has a set sitting on the shelf (He did when I bought mine on the last Erson perpetual backorder) The Ersons are a good bang for the buck

[cobrajam]

For what it is worth, I ran Ford Power Parts roller rockers in my iron 427. The POPs are very similar, and may very well be the one and the same. I preferred the FPP rockers over the Doves because the FPPs have a bronze bushing (like the POPs) instead of the aluminum riding on the shafts like the Doves. I also liked the ball/ball ends of the push rods that were used. I did use the Dove stands/shafts due to the fact the end stands actually tied into the head studs. This was about 15 years ago and choices were more limited back them. I was using a solid Comp Cam roller, .645/.645, 246/246@50, 108 LSA, and either Comp 829 or 839 springs . I ran it up to 6500 rpm on several occasions (as in as much as possible) w/o breakage.

I initially was going to strip everything off my iron 427 to build my aluminum one, and was going to reuse the rocker assembly, but at some point I decided to keep them with the iron block and build it too. That, and the fact I will be running around 650lbs open pressure springs w/ a Comp solid roller .739/.751, 276/286@50, 108 LSA, I opted for the Ersons because of the advertised rating of 1200lbs, plus at $700 set, they were $200 less than the pieces I put together over a decade ago.

IMO the key to keeping your rocker assemblies alive, esp with your cam and related spring pressures, will be keeping the shafts from flexing/breaking. Even though the Ersons have a smaller diameter shaft, they do have the end stands that wrap around the end rocker, where the shaft typically breaks.

As stated before, DSC has a couple again on ebay where I got mine. I noticed he took off his typical Buy It Now price, I guess it is [i]whatever the market will bear[i] now.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...015593492&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...211227996&rd=1

[767Jockey]

Originally Posted by cobrajam

For what it is worth, I ran Ford Power Parts roller rockers in my iron 427. The POPs are very similar, and may very well be the one and the same. I preferred the FPP rockers over the Doves because the FPPs have a bronze bushing (like the POPs) instead of the aluminum riding on the shafts like the Doves. I also liked the ball/ball ends of the push rods that were used. I did use the Dove stands/shafts due to the fact the end stands actually tied into the head studs. This was about 15 years ago and choices were more limited back them. I was using a solid Comp Cam roller, .645/.645, 246/246@50, 108 LSA, and either Comp 829 or 839 springs . I ran it up to 6500 rpm on several occasions (as in as much as possible) w/o breakage.

I initially was going to strip everything off my iron 427 to build my aluminum one, and was going to reuse the rocker assembly, but at some point I decided to keep them with the iron block and build it too. That, and the fact I will be running around 650lbs open pressure springs w/ a Comp solid roller .739/.751, 276/286@50, 108 LSA, I opted for the Ersons because of the advertised rating of 1200lbs, plus at $700 set, they were $200 less than the pieces I put together over a decade ago.

IMO the key to keeping your rocker assemblies alive, esp with your cam and related spring pressures, will be keeping the shafts from flexing/breaking. Even though the Ersons have a smaller diameter shaft, they do have the end stands that wrap around the end rocker, where the shaft typically breaks.

As stated before, DSC has a couple again on ebay where I got mine. I noticed he took off his typical Buy It Now price, I guess it is [i]whatever the market will bear[i] now.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...015593492&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...211227996&rd=1

No "Buy It Now" choice, but there is a reserve price, which at $510 and $503 has not yet been met. My guess is reserve is about what the "Buy It Now" price was. Can't say that I blame him.

[afret]

That, and the fact I will be running around 650lbs open pressure springs w/ a Comp solid roller .739/.751, 276/286@50, 108 LSA, I opted for the Ersons because of the advertised rating of 1200lbs, plus at $700 set, they were $200 less than the pieces I put together over a decade ago.

IMO the key to keeping your rocker assemblies alive, esp with your cam and related spring pressures, will be keeping the shafts from flexing/breaking. Even though the Ersons have a smaller diameter shaft, they do have the end stands that wrap around the end rocker, where the shaft typically breaks.

One thing you might consider is the strength of the helicoils in the rocker stand bolt holes in aluminum heads if you are running Edelbrocks. I know there are guys running 650 lb valve springs with the helicoils but I think there are cases of the helicoils getting pulled out with springs this strong. You might ask KC for his opinion. I took out the helicoils on the 2 sets of Edelbrocks I have with roller cam springs and replaced them with larger solid inserts (Ez-loks) for peace of mind. One is about 600 lbs open and the other is about 650 lbs open. Actually any more than this and T+D is the way to go.

The small diameter shaft in the Ersons is kind of worrisome. I have a couple sets of the Ersons and when I start installing them, the shaft flexes a lot more than with the setup I had with the thick chomoly shafts and endstands. Gives me a bit of a scare. I can't see how they can be stronger than the setup with the good shafts and endstands. I think the Erson shafts are only about 5/8 inch diameter compared to around .8 or so for the other shafts. The rockers themselves may be stronger than say the Harland Sharps, etc but there is no way a much smaller diameter shaft can be stronger especially when you have the large holes in the shaft for the rocker stand bolts. I'm not anti Erson since I do own them but the shaft itself seems to be the weak point in the system. I recall RobbMc who designed the system mentioned that shafts have broken but the stands capture it so you might not even know of the break. I don't remember hearing of too many cases of the POP chromoly shafts breaking if using endstands. I'm no engineer. JMHO

[RodKnock]

The Ersons were delivered yesterday and installed today. I'm off to the dyno early next week! Yippee!

Thank you for all the suggestions and comments. I sincerely appreciate it.

[hi-tech cobra]

How about some pics of the engine in your gallery?!

[RodKnock]

I'll post them as soon as I have some. I've got bubb-kiss at the moment.