Aluminum Roller Rocker question

[BayouBlazer88]

I'm thinking of putting aluminum roller rockers on my 88' K5, 350tbi. I called Jeg's today just to see exactly which sizes would fit mine and he said that I would have to use self aligning rockers since it has centerbolt style heads. Is this true? because if it is, the only ones that will fit mine are some $300 racing rockers. I was planning on spending $190 for the Crane Cams Energizer rockers. So I have 3 questions:
1)What is the difference between regular roller rockers and self aligning roller rockers
2)What model number is an 88' 350tbi called? They say in the Jeg's catalogue that these self align rockers are for the LT1 and LT4. Is mine one of those?
3)Has anyone converted to aluminum roller rockers? Is it worth it? Did you notice much more horsepower and fuel economy as they claim?

 

[chevysrule]

I think that you do have to use self- aligning rocker arms. or else have your heads machined to fit guide plates ( they keep the pushrods in line) I recently put the crane 1.5 rockers on my 400, and to tell you the truth, they are noisy and kind of hard to keep adjusted, but maybe its just me? as for horsepower i couldnt really tell a difference.

 

[blazinzuk]

The roller tips reduce friction in the valvetrain which in turn reduces heat Less friction less heat Less friction more power. I think if you have center bolt valve covers then you have to use self aligining ones. /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif

 

[cybrfire]

You probably won't notice a huge power inprovement but its there. Like the racers trimming weight its not where you can lose a pound but sixteen places you can lose an ounce or something like that. Roller rockers and electric fans and this and that and the other thing and you will start to see(feel) increases in you torque and horsepower. Everything adds up. In my opinion these kind of upgrades are well worth it. I have an electic fuel pump on mine and I am going to electric fans and also will be in the future upgrading to roller rockers. I figure those three combined should net about 20-30 horsepower. will I notice it not sure. Will it be there, you bet. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[Lonnie]

The narrow body self-aligning variety of rockers are used on all centerbolt heads which include the , tuned port (except aluminum TPI Vette that came with guideplates), Vortec & LT1 heads. True LT4 engines had a non-adjustable valvetrain which are not compatible. You can eliminate the self adjusting rocker problem, but must use guide plates instead. This is easy on the aluminum LT1 head as it has screw in studs. All the other iron heads require the pressed in studs to be replaced with screw in units to use non aligning rockers (head removal/machine work required).

You will not see much of a gain for your $300 investment. Maybe 5-7hp. A good increase would be to upgrade to the 1.6 ratio rocker, giving you slightly more cam lift/duration & therefore more power (approx 10-15 max). You must check for ample spring clearance (potential coil bind problems) & retainer to guide clearance before doing the higher ratio rockers. Also certain valve covers will hit the aluminum rockers (depending on cam lift) & require the internal drippers (not all have these) & baffles to be bent slightly for clearance.

As far as mileage, don't expect any increase. Most of the power comes from the more accurate rocker ratio (stock ranges from 1.42-1.52)than friction.

 

[BayouBlazer88]

Well if they are noisy and hard to keep adjusted then there is no point in me getting some. The main reason I wanted roller rockers is to eliminate the clicking sound of my stock rockers. Ever since I had to pull them out to change my head gaskets, they have clicked. I always tighten them 3/4 turn after the pushrods touch in the correct sequence as told in the manual, but they still seem to come loose. I wonder if I could put another nut on each of the studs to help lock them in place? Oh well, looks like I'll probably be spending $300 in other places, like on cams and vortec style heads. thanks for the info though.

 

[twenty_below0]

Wait a Minute here, you can get a set of Steel roller rockers SELF ALLIGNING, for less than 150.00 a set, I have some and LIKE them for the cash they are great! They do make a little noise but it's not a tick, tick it's a smooth sound that you'll learn to recognize when you hear it. GO TO EBAY! It's worth doing, like the one guy said it all adds up! /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[BayouBlazer88]

Ok I went to Ebay and found some good deals on roller rockers. I think I saw the steel ones you were talking about. Were they made by Cal Auto? They also have some Scorpion aluminum roller rockers for $200. I've never heard of Scorpion so I'm not sure what kind of quality they are. But I may get them anyway. Thanks for the Ebay idea, I always forget about it.

 

[ratlover]

For your investment you arnt going to see much and I doubt you will feel anything. I would only by quality name stuff like crane. I have heard bad things of the Proform china junk.

Your nuts are fubar /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif. Get some new nuts or a new set of factory steel rockers. A fix that sometimes works for the shade tree type is to take the nut and put it on a vice or something and whack the top(kinda rounded part). If you adjust your nuts many times they start to get lose and whacking em closes the thread a bit and keeps em from coming undone.

For rockers with poly locks(roller rockers) it helps if you set the screw in the top tight and then give the adjusting nut a final tweak tight to tighten her up.

Roller rockers can be a headache on stock motors(for mentioned reasons like clearance for stuff) and $$$ for very little gain(mostly from the better materials or tolerances or roller fulcrum if it has it, the roller tip isnt really helpfull). But its your money......