I'm going to help man-a fre with converting his Hemi rockers to adjustable. When I did it before I spent hours & hours haunting junk yards searching for suitable donor parts for both adj & pushrod parts. In thinking about this recently it came to me that there must be some company --somewhere that does nothing but produce the various little parts that go into making up valve trains. I am pretty sure that no auto maker designs & builds all the little ball ends --****on cups , adj screws that they use -- they must have a source that has a stock catalog that you use a part from collumn a & one from b etc. I know from reading posts that the Hamb has people that are with TRW & Federal Mogul & other manafacturers --- any possibility one of you may know how to help me find the source I need? Hoping for a PM from somebody . Dave
Sorry, Im no help on the parts. But I would like to see a tech on how to do the conversion. Also what parts are you taking off what engines to do this?
Well , It's been so long ago that I did the last ones, I don't remember & I lost the notebook that I kept track in. There is something else I wanted to put in the first post, I have a bunch of self locking adj. screws that came off slant six mopars . these litte devils would be perfect --Except that I cannot find a tap that will do the threads they need --- Thay are ALMOST a 3/8 X 24 , but being self locking they are whats called an "interference fit thread" . a 3/8 sae tap makes threads that they will go into ,but it screws them up a bit . I have tried every place I can think of to find a tap for them with nothing but blank stares as a result. Any ideas on how to track one down-- somebody make one -- Mopar had some when thay built the slant six & the 426 hemi used the same type thread in a larger diameter.
Rocker Arm Specialties rebuilds rocker arm ***emblies, and will convert them over to adjustable. Hot Heads does it for Hemis. I know that's not what you asked, but they've probably got the parts. Seems like they'd have had to have the pieces manufactured, since original supplies have pretty much dried up. Or, figure out the sizes of the adjusters and jamb nuts you need, and see if COMP or Crane will sell you just the adjusters (since they use them on their pieces) -Brad
Try these guys A little pricey,but they have all sorts of ends & small parts. Let us know how they turn out! http://www.mantonpushrods.com/
Call Gary at rocker arm specialties, he will sell individual parts or the whole thing. He is the nicest guy you willo ever talk to in the industry and a complete wealth of knowledge.he is in anderson california at 530-378-1075 FED
try dove manufacturing 440-236-5139 they make mabe 70% of the rocker arms out there they should have the parts your looking for dave
I've got adj. push rods in my 392, they are a *****! I would like adj. rockers but they are to damn expensive. Let us know what you come up with.
ol fueler came up with some info will call you this weekend,also got the 392 marine bought for 200.00.
I recently saw a set of original adj. rockers of a 392 Hemi, and noticed the rockers were beafier/thicker at the adjuster-end. Which made me wonder if converted non-adj. rockers are sturdy enough and capable of handling the valve-actions of a solid performance cam and the increased spring-rates of the valves?
Word. I've had to adjust my adjustable pishrods once, motor on the stand half disasembled. I'm not looking forward to doing it in the car. I'll probably switch to a hydraulic cam, i'm waaay to lazy to turn teh pushrods every 3,000.
Does anyone perhaps know, when modifying stock hydr. rockers into adjustable rockers, do the dimpled valvecovers become necessary? And is there a simple way to make those dimples yourself if needed, instead having to go out and find a set? Has anyone done this?
I agree - call Gary at RAS -- he can take care of you. He recently built a set of custom 417 Donovan rockers for my Donovan heads -- took a bit longer than I like, but Gary really cares about his work and will take care of you. I just spoke with him last week -- he built another special set for Gene Adams -- that can take 800 lbs of seat pressure, 1.7 ratio and a huge lift (not easy to do). He can upgrade your stockers to adjustables, or sell you an aluminum set with either bushings or needle bearings.
With a ball peen hammer and a shot bag. Seriously. I've dimpled many a(non-Hemi) valve cover that way for clearance. With practich on s**** metal or cheap valve covers, you can even make a nice symetrical dimple that looks like it was supposed to be there. Of copurse, repainting will be required, and you can't do it on chrome covers because the chrome will crack.
BTTT This thread was a while ago but did you get the rockers converted? What did you use for the adjusters and where did you get them? Inquiring minds want to know.
Gary, Rocker Arm Specialty converted my adjustable rockers so I could use my Embossed Red Ram Valve Covers..Remember the dimples are for the exhaust rockers.. If you have your cam ground, the stock push rods will not work, you will need adjustable ones or adjustable rocker arms.. Duane.
I have been looking at this too. I took a set apart and looked at the cups. The section will be pretty thin with a ball end 5/16 adjuster, But I did a search and someone did it in a drill press. I bought another set for cheap on ebay to try it with.
Just get the standard 3/8" -24 adjusters from any of the standard engineering companies. Comp Cams, Crane, Manley, the list goes on. And then buy the pushrods to fit your motor.
From crane: http://cranecams.com/?show=browseParts&lvl=2&prt=23&action=partSpec&partNumber=99802-16 The 3/8" 24 adjuster with a 5/16" ball is a very standard aftermarket adjuster for rockers. The inside of the cup on the rocker arm is hardened, so you'll need to take the heat treat out of it. Other than that, the ductile iron drills and taps fairly easy. To do it right, you really need to build a jig to drill them, then you need to face the top side of the hole to seat the lock nut. I guess that self locking adjusters off some old stock thing would eliminate that, but to me, the risk of screwing up the threads from the interference fit isn't worth it.
<TABLE cl***=tborder id=post3574547 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD cl***=thead style="BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 0px solid; BORDER-TOP: #e5e5e5 1px solid; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; BORDER-LEFT: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #e5e5e5 1px solid"><!-- status icon and date --> 02-05-2009, 02:53 PM <!-- / status icon and date --></TD><TD cl***=thead style="BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #e5e5e5 1px solid; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; BORDER-LEFT: #e5e5e5 0px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #e5e5e5 1px solid" align=right> #113 </TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD cl***=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #e5e5e5 0px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #e5e5e5 0px solid" width=175>drfreeze<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_3574547", true); </SCRIPT> Alliance Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Long Island,NY Posts: 83 </TD><TD cl***=alt1 id=td_post_3574547 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid"><!-- icon and ***le --> Re: HEMI Tech: Camshafts.. new? Regrind? solid or Hydraulic? <HR style="COLOR: #e5e5e5; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and ***le --><!-- message -->we should keep this goin! I talk to these guys said they'll do complete rebuild and ajustable for about $525 http://www.rockerarms.com/ <!-- / message --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> This is in the hemi tech. its under "cams". Came up in discussion, prolly should be moved or linked to "rockers" so folks can find it.
Thanks for the responses. Yeah I know about Rocker Arm Spe******ts. I'm running a set of their converted ones in my coupe. I wanted to have a go at it myself. Since the end is pretty small I wasn't sure if 3/8 was what I should use. I need to measure the ones on the coupe. I know they aer metric.
Top picture is a converted 301 poly rocker, damn near identical to a hemi intake rocker, but not quite. I did this one as a test for the machining procedure and a strength test. The strength test was simply supporting the shaft and pushing on the adjuster and valve surface in the 12 ton press. It failed on the end opposite the adjuster, leading me to believe that the weakest point is that part of the arm and no where near the machine work I did. Bottom picture is a stock 413/426 max wedge rocker arm shaft for reference.
I made a set of 1.65 from a set of 1.5s in the seventies. It wasnt really that hard although I dont know what all the fus is about adjusting adjustable pushrods. Done that too. usually make a set of special wrenches from store bought ends to fit the engine better . Was no big deal
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