Technical Should I run these chinesium roller rockers(1 year update)

My buddy was cleaning out his garage and gave me these stainless steel Cat roller rockers for a sbc new in box circa 2008. I have a mild 327,.466 lift, 224@ .050 cam . TheseE have a mixed reputation online, so has anyone run these, good or bad, or general thoughts?

 

Spend the money on good parts.

 

To dismiss using something based Solely on its point of manufacture is a useless conclusion .

 

I ran a set that dad picked up off of the old ebay. It was a mistake. The poly locks that came with them wouldn't stay locked. I was getting one pass and they were backing off. I wouldn't swear that the ratio is spot on either.

 

Yea, I have heard way more bad than good about these rockers although I have no experience with them directly. I have only run Crane and Erson roller rockers that I can recall.

 

They look fine to me,,,,except for the logo ?
Are they in a CAT box ?
All the Cat products I have ever had or saw,,,had a clean ,clear Cat logo,,,and had an image like a panther or large cat above it .
I’ve never seen engraving or dot spelling on their parts,,,,maybe I’m wrong .
Either way,,,they look okay for anything short of a high output application,,,,and might even be good for that ?

Tommy

 

The key word here is REGIFT them

 

Yes and no, the smart phone I'm typing this on was made in China, but you couldn't pay me to run automotive parts like that because the QC or consistency isn't there. Being frugal is a good character trait, but whenever I cheap out it almost always seems to end up getting really expensive. Maybe defective rockers can't cause a lot of damage, but the cam blanks and lifters, fuel pumps etc aren't winning any prizes.

 

Sounds like a good White Elephant gift for your work Christmas party...

 

Getting something free that you don't use is better than paying good money for something that you don't use.

 

Every time you drive your late model , you're trusting made in China parts , in fact I can't think of much of anything anymore that isnt made offshore or made from offshore parts !

 

My son once showed me an article from an import magazine about an engine build done entirely with cheap knockoff parts. It didn't even survive one dyno pull before it grenaded.

 

If they were good he probably would not have given them to you...

 

Yeah,,,,and we need to remember to keep our arrogance in check .
They are producing a lot of quality parts as well .

Remember,,,,,,about 80 years ago,,,,,a small island in the Pacific had an excellent plane that was put up against us .
The Japanese Zero,,,,,if they had been an industrial giant with unlimited resources,,,,it would have been much worse .
Never underestimate your enemy,,,or their capabilities .

Tommy

 

>>> I have a mild 327,.466 lift, 224@ .050 cam>>>

You'd still have a mild 327.

 

I'd run em....
There I said it..

 

Run them and let us know

 

USA Manufactured since the 1950"s Harland Sharp

 

I would be concerned about the bearings being rusty. looking at the photos I don't see the cam breaking any rockers.

 

A lot of people will miss the point in these kind of discussions. Arrogance got nothin' to do with it. Nobody has claimed they can't make high quality precision parts. I thought that was pretty clear to everyone by now, maybe not.

When it comes to aftermarket or particularly old school reproduction parts, they make some genuine $@&t that should be avoided whenever possible. Maybe those roller rockers are OK, but that probably ain't the way to bet.

 

Lol,,,you’re right,,,but most usually just dismiss anything from there as junk .
Just like here,,,,,there are good suppliers and bad suppliers,,,,,not all created equal .

Like Ahotrod posted,,,,,good old Harland Sharp,,,the best in my book .
And they are aluminum,,,,top notch quality .

Tommy

 

Again the contractor is capable of producing quality directly
accordance with the customers request. it all boils downs to
profit versus quality. Higher standards require more
price or less profit per unit sold. Of course that is just an
opinion of an old ass Ironworker, not a learned economist.

 

The point

Any problems with the rockers themselves. The polylocks look like crap and won't be used. The ratio looks good on the ones I measured

 

I think you must be suspect if them or you wouldn’t be asking. You answered your own question.

Would you be asking the same thing about Crane, Isky or Harland Sharp?

Me thinks not….

 

Yes, we ended up relieving parts of the body to clear. I threw them away when dad wasn’t around.

 

I’d run them straight to the scrap pile. Every time I try something like running cheap engine parts, it costs me more than buying good stuff.

 

Through working with a couple friends in their builds, we've had mixed experiences with Cat parts(Cal Auto Transpeed).
One build used the Cat cast 383 stroker crank and stock appearing 5140 connecting rods(no-name Eagle SIR's basically)and had no problems with those pieces, even at 7200 rpm regularly.....crank was an ugly bitch though, compared to SCAT, counterweight machining looked very crude.....but it lived.

The other build used the CAT solid roller lifters, the copy of the Crane/Lunati spring loaded "pop-up" horizontal tie-bar style....those were complete crap, outer body poor heat treat scuffed in the lifter bore contact area and the needle bearings in the roller wheels lasted less than 300 miles before one failed. On a 258° dur @.050", .604" lift Herbert solid roller cam.

At least the rockers are up easy to get at, where you can keep track of wear on the rocker pivot bearings.
I'd only use them if you can take the time to check them often for the first couple thousand miles to ensure that are stable. The needle bearings are what I'd be most worried about.

 

You didn't state the intended use of your engine. But for a streeter or street/strip use with a cam with only .466" lift cam I think they will live. Voted Run Them".

 

I would take them apart and have a look see, if they look good and your not running some crazy spring pressure you should be good, if they look bad then you have your answer.

 

Throw 'em in the Shit Can... Immediately!