The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Rebuilt Valvetrain

I just wanted to share this. I am rebuilding 235 for my wife's '60 Apache, the engine is original to the truck. I have had the head completely reworked, new larger intake valves, stainless exhaust valves and milled .040. I have added a Melling CCS1 Cam. With all of this work, time and money it just seemed right to rebuild the valvetrain as well. After asking around one company kept coming up, Rocker Arms Unlimited in Redding California.

I contacted them and spoke with Gary there. I told him what I had and what I would like done, he was extremely familiar with the wear issues I was dealing with. He suggested that I send the entire assembly and let them check it over completely. The rockers arms had shallow grooves worn in the tips and the bushings were loose on the shafts. Since I was changing the Cam, I needed fresh litters too. I sent both the Valvetrain and Lifters to them.

I talked to Gary a couple of time during the rebuild process to see where this stood. He explained the process and what was actually being done, really great Customer service. The whole rebuild told just over a month, time at the platers was the biggest factor.

I received the rocker arms and lifters yesterday. I couldn't be happier with the end result, they look better than new. I won't say it was cheap be the quality is spot on, to resurface the lifters was only $68.00, the money was in the valvetrain. They replated the shafts, resurfaced the rocker arm faces, replaced the bushings, adjusters and nuts. All total with return shipping $488.16. A chunk of money, maybe, but the work and service were top notch.

Just wanted to say Thanks to Dragsix (Mike) for the suggestion to use this company.

Sounds like money well spent, less than $500 is not bad for what they did, the hard chrome plating was likely a chunk of the money. The quality shows.

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like a good job.

Good looking work! Since the original rocker arms don't have bushings, I wonder when yours were modified? There's another approach, one I've been working on for a while. Grind the rocker shafts down to 18MM diameter, and fit Torrington roller bearings to the rocker arms. I use a tool post grinder on my lathe to rework the rockers, and fabricate bushings for the rocker stands to accommodate the smaller diameter shafts. I have a fixture that fits my valve grinding machine to resurface the rocker tips.
Jerry

The WIFE’S 60 Apache?

Yep... her Truck, I just get to work on it..

Just a FYI- - - -if anyone is planning on replacing rocker arm shafts with grooves worn in the bottom, I'd love to have the old ones. Unless the shafts are worn severely, my method of fitting roller bearings to the valve train involves grinding the shafts down enough to fit the Torrington bearings. That takes the worn spots out. The shafts are hardened all the way through, not just on the surface, so regrinding them doesn't cause premature failure. PM me if anyone has shafts you would discard otherwise. Two bearings per rocker arm have a parts cost of about $75.00. The rockers can be bored out with a chucking reamer in a heavy duty drill press, and the bearings are pressed in from both sides, leaving an oil groove between them.

www.ebay.com/itm/198117211225?

Jerry

Jerry's method just might make the valve train a bit more quiet, also. He and I haven't discussed it, but I believe it is a possibility. Certainly smoother and much more well-mannered over time.

Valve train noise is mostly a matter of keeping the adjustment accurate, as the rate of lift changes rapidly once the clearance is taken up as the cam transitions from the clearance ramp to actually lifting the valve off its seat. Just a slight bit of extra clearance at the rocker tip produces that distinctive rattle that some people think is "normal" for a stovebolt valve system. Somewhere stashed away in one of my storage bins there's a set of "silent lash" adjuster screws. They have a spring loaded ball bearing in the screw tip that keeps a little bit of tension on the rocker arm all the time, and pretty much eliminates valve train noise. I don't think the idea worked very well, as the only manufacturer I know of that chose to use a similar setup was on a Ford 240 cubic inch six made in the mid-1960s. When Ford upsized that engine to 300, they didn't include the silent lash system.
Jerry

roller shaft sounds interesting. the old hillbilly way was to just turn the shaft over, they only wear on the underside.
Jay D.

I've done that also, but the oil holes end up pointing in the wrong direction. I drill new holes, using the existing ones as a guide, and drive tapered brass plugs into the original holes. Use a solid carbide drill bit to penetrate the hardened metal. Draw file the plugs smooth with the top of the shaft.
Jerry