I am to the point of checking piston to valve clearance and saw the rockers have a nice groove along with the bolt down spacers. Is this typical? And do I need to worry with running a larger than stock cam, it will move beyond the factory wear area. Secondly, I'd like to get the rockers off the shaft to thoroughly inspect. The end caps are on pretty good, i tried "slide hammering" the rockers with help of the spring but didn't get any movement. Heat the end cap? I was afraid of screwing up the spring washer at the end.
I just re-read what I typed. The rockers slide on the shaft just fine. Its the end caps I don't know how to remove. I was using the rockers like a slide hammer to try to tap the end caps off. I saw in a Buick manual to chisel and crack the end caps... but I'd like to re-use them if possible to move things along and not wait for parts in the mail. Anyway, my piston to valve clearance was way into the safe zone. So from here I'm looking to check out these rockers and get the valve springs shimmed / measured for seat pressure.
Can you post a pic of what your talking about? What year Buick engine? Are you talking about the nylon buttons? End caps has me thinking you have an "oil thru the shaft" rocker set up.
This is on a 69 430. I'll grab a few pics and post them here. I have the oil through the block/head/shaft style aluminum rockers. I have plugged the hole in the block, and am using 455 style lifters with hybrid T/A adjustable pushrods.
Are the rockers even re-usable? I'd expect the rockers and the shafts to be wiped-out. Wild Guess: You'll be ordering a pair of rockers 'n' shaft assemblies from Melling. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mel-mrs-665k At which point, you'll have the wrong pushrods.
If you go the way Schurkey suggests call TA and see if they will just sell you the 455 tips for your adjustable pushrods.. It's rare for the early rocker assemblies to show side wear.. they typically just break the pad that contacts the valve. JW
I was following this thread and I'm still curious to find out how the end caps can be properly removed as asked in post #1.
I use propane torch heat on the cap itself with the rockers pushed away and held toward the opposite end of the shaft, in a well ventilated area. With thick gloves, it's usually as easy as using the adjacent rocker arm as a mini slide hammer to tap the cap off once heated. The ventilation comment is sincere...even after a thorough cleaning, one end of the shaft is usually full of gunk since the shafts are fed from only one end, and the gunk tends to accumulate at the other. After everything's clean, reassembly is easy - tap each cap on carefully at room temperature until fully seated. PS pay careful attention to shaft/rocker orientation due to the shaft oil hole positions, it's possible to install the rockers backwards on the shafts. Buick put one drill spot on the shaft that shows on top of the shaft on one side when installed properly. This is important even if oiling early rockers through the pushrod, since it ensures oil at the high-wear area between the rocker & shaft. Devon
Well I have 2 sets of these style rockers and shafts. I think I'll be able to make one good set between both sets. I"ll have pics posted tonight, the most extreme wear was between the rockers and the shaft hold downs. Odd to me that the steel hold downs wore vs just eating the rocker but the rockers almost seem better off than the hold downs.
Here are a few pics of the hold downs and the rockers. I think the rockers will be ok, and I rounded up the best hold downs. Pics are of the worst ones. Thanks Devon I'll definitely reference that info on reassembly.
I want photos of the bottom side of the rocker shafts, where the rocker arms ride; and the rocker arm ends where the valve tips contact the rocker arms.
I'll grab those pics tomorrow, the valve tip inserts look good, and 1 out of the 4 shafts is definitely bad. Scoring on the bottom half looking "chrome like". I'm going to try to get the shafts completely disassembled tomorrow also so I can see if the rockers on the bad shaft are toast.
If the shaft is worn...the rockers are worn. They wear together. Scoring on the shaft will transfer to the rocker. OTOH, if the shaft is merely polished (chrome-like) then I suppose there's a chance the rocker pivot hole will also be merely polished. Truthfully, that's not what I'd expect to see--but I also wouldn't expect to hear you say the shaft is "chrome-like" in the wear areas. I'm going to shut up now. I have no idea how many miles are on these rocker shaft assemblies, or how often the oil was changed. I can only say that of the various engines I've worked on, (not all Buicks) I've seen a tremendous number of wiped-out rocker arms and very few used-but-usable arms on core engines.
Schurkey , what you said makes sense. The rockers off the worst shaft are toast. I'm having problems uploading pics but I'll try again later.
