engine has to go back

[Don]

Well as some of you know my SB stroker broke at an early age.. busted rocker arm adjusting screw which led to the push rod cup digging into the rocker arm sending metal into the oil the adjusting screw broke just under the lock nut ect.. any way I am taking it back to the shop for the owner to see, After talking to him on the phone he seems to think it was faulty parts (of course) but those parts lived on a stock block .030 SB 360 with same cam springs,heads non milled or decked ect..

Here is what i think happend.

First the engine was CnCed, decked balanced then assembled, upon assembly the assembler didnt check the Push rods for the correct length (reused the ones from the stock deck engine) and since the rods were to long he adjusted the rocker adjusting screws out to accommendate for the extra length. So now the rocker Geometry is off, the rockers now touch the valve stem off center,(not like they did before) so to correct this problem he used valve lash caps so the rockers would have a larger path to ride, so since the rocker geometry is off the adjusting studs broke under the uneven or stressed load,it may even had coil bind.

The cam is not to large for these rockers 488/491 lift according to the rocker company.

I know when I had the rockers in this engine before it was stroked there were aprox 2.5 threads showing above the rocker adjusting lock nut, now there are at least 6.5 to 7 threads showing, if i flip the rocker over the ball is resting near the bottom of the rocker, to the point it almost pertrudes into the adjusting screw hole. Even thou I used an inexpensive set of rockers I feel they are not to blame, I blame the machinist for not checking his work, now My stroker has to be flushed and torn down to get all the metal shavings out maybe even new rod and mains. When i called him a few weeks ago about the noises, he assured me it was NOT the engine ( guess he is God and makes no mistakes) When i called him about the rocker problem he said OH must be the poor quality of rocker, and the engine needs to be checked at my expence..

From looking at the adjusting screw threads, there is about an 1/8 in at least difference in the way he set them up compared to the way i had them on the stock deck with non milled heads .039 head gasket. If the correct PR was used I would think the Rocker adjuster would be in a simular spot as it was the first time 2.5 to 3 treads..I really think this is in thier (shop) error and not mine nor the part.. The shop assembled this thing from pan to intake including the valve covers, therefore they checked and assembled the valve train. Basically when i picked it up it was ready to go in.

Here are a couple of pics.

what do you think? I doubt he will take care of this problem, if he isnt willing to remedy this should I take it else where ,Heck i may do it myself..But first I want to see what they will do.

Thanks

Don

[Mike Muenz]

get a hold of dan smith,he's here on the board, just do a member search

[Don]

where is he from? I live In Alton IL.

[Mike Muenz]

affton mo

[Dan York]

That really sucks Don! Your explanation sounds very possible which makes them responsible in my opinion. I would see if they are willing to make it right. If not Dan Smith is an awesome engine guy very meticulous and has done a lot of small block strokers which everyone has been very happy with. by the way I had a similar deal with a 383 about 4 years ago except mine really was a defective batch of Crane gold rockers, they even admitted it and sent me another set BUUUT I still had the mess to deal with and it was 2 days before I was taking it to Mopar Nats. Good luck to ya!

[Don]

Hello, well the shop is fixing it, but it will cost me a little cash.. I am glad it didnt happen while on the street..

It seems the lock nuts may have been over tightened, but cant prove that..

[Tracy Lambeth]

Don pushrod length does not affect rocker arm geometry on a LA Chrysler. It does on a SB Chevy but not on a Mopar. Reason is the only 2 ways to affect rocker arm geometry is by raising or lowering the rocker arm fulcrum (the mounting point) or raising or lowering the valve stem height. You can shim up the rocker shafts on a LA Chrysler but it's not easy to lower them. Machining is the only way. The pushrods may very well have been the wrong length and the shop should have caught it but if the rocker arm geometry is off a couple possibilities exist as to why. 1st is the rocker arms were not properly made. This is common especially among the E-bay ones and even the older ones Mancini's sold and some 1st production Comp Cams magnum rocker arms. 2nd the valves have been ground and the valve stem height was not set. When you grind the valves and seats it sinks the valves farther into the head causing the valve stem to stick up higher than it was originally designed for. This throws off the valve train geometry. You can replace the pushrods but it won't do anything for the geometry problem. I have had experience with several different brands of rocker arms and I can tell you first hand geometry is a big problem with most cheap ones and even some big name brand rockers aren't perfect.

[Rodney]

See what they will do, but OEM vs after market lifter can have a length difference, one question that you may want to ask is you the owner and the tech, ask the tech how he adjusted the valve lash, dry lifters or oiled lifters, mopar recommends a dry lifter adjustment, tdc #1 adjust intake on a cylinder i believe #2 and the exhaust valve on #8 rotate 90 degrees then 2 more (rinse & repeat). if he adjusted while engine running he could have overtightened and caused some issues once you drove, did he break the cam in 2000 rpm for 20 minutes, then listen for any adverse noise.

Hope that helps as far as a complete rebuild.... pick up screens and oil filters are designed to prevent materials from entering the oiling system, drop the pan chunks of metal i wouldn't rebuild micro fine (glitter) there would have to be alot ( run finger through oil and it leaves streaks) generally happens when a bearing breaks down (spun bearing)