Well ive done some searching and the conclusion ive come to is that roller rockers are useless to a bolt on guy like myself. It seems as though the labor and mainly the cost of new new valve springs is usless unless your getting a really mild cam or heads. When i do get a cam i intend it to be sufficient by itself (.600 or so). Apparently the stock rollers are designed fairly well so there cant be much weight reduction etc. to the valve train for a cost/labor efficient deal w/out doing it all at once. Can anyone turn me back before i completely disregard this ave. for extra bolt on hp? Any strictly bolt on guys that did these and felt it was worth it?

 

the main reason i ask is because i feel a little discouraged that an LS6 im and ud pulley kit are the final true bolt on parts that can make a significant difference on the TA. The cam is where costs start going up fast.

 

For the money of the rockers, you could go ahead and get a cam. I vote to wait. You kinda gave your own answer. Sounds like a good one. Just start stockpiling the cam, etc. till you're ready.

I have the Crane/Vinci 1.8 rockers, but used them with the gm hotcam, after I wanted more. Then I wanted to go to a bigger cam, like everyone usually does. I still wanted to use the rockers so I had to be limited on the cam I did get. Just saying that so if you do go rockers. You might want to stick with 1.7's.

 

Swapping rockers would be more of a durability improvement rather than a power improvement. The stock rockers are very well designed, but a bearing/fulcrum swap like from Harland Sharp would be a wise investment, especially as spring pressures increase.

 

Instead of sending the stockers out to Harland Sharp for a rebuild $260 I would just as soon buy Yella Terra Ultralite for $380. But agree in cam first.

 

But a cam first, then think about upgrading or rebuliding your stock rockers some other day imo.

 

i was just looking at those do they fit under the stock
valve covers?

 

I bought new valve covers but I believe others have used stock with a little grinding.

 

i have the crane variable lift rockers. Although they are a great pice of machinery and quality I lost a little rpm up top due to excessive weight. The money spent on roller rockers and the assosiated parts are just not worth it for a bolt on car imo. I actually plan on taking mine off and eventually selling them and put the stockers back on. For the money I bet you could see some grate gains working w/ the exhaust some more. I gained 2/10s by extending my collectors on my headers. I added 3" diameter pipe and extended it 33" before stepping down to 2.5" then Dr. Gas x pipe to true duals w/ cherry bomb extreame mufflers. Oh did I mention it was 2/10s in the 1/8th. That would equate to aound 3/10s 1/4mile improvement. All I did was extend the collectors and found a ton of torque in the midrange. I had a 4,000 stalled bolton car too so I feel you could really benifit.

 

thanks - i really do appreciate the good advice - intend on doing that after the deep pan install in the next couple of weeks. Only im doin straight downdurns off the X

 

Are you not going to use mufflers? If not that's going to be one loud SOB! Haha. The mufflers I ran with sound great at cruise. You can even carry on a conversation in the car while driving normal. But when the hammer hits the floor all hell breaks loose. I got a $350 ticket for excessive noise with them but it was worth it. I love 'em. Mine are dumped as well just before the back axle.

 

What valve springs are you running? There shouldn't be any problem with weight.

 

TEA dual gold. they cost over $600 and didn't really boost power anywhere. It seems it lost about 200rpm. I have talked to some sponsors including Brian from TEA and they said to try a different springs since mine or the older dual gold but thats another $250. I would just rather sell them, put stockers back on, and spend the $ elswhere. Plus for a bolt on guy I think he would be overspending for what he wants to do.

 

Gotcha. It sounds like a harmonic issue to me, if your loosing rpms. What ratio are you running? Yes, I do agree that his money can be used elsewhere like a cam. There is power to be gained with these rockers, it just depends on combo/cam profile it will be used upon. Sorry about you misfortune with , these rockers.

 

I'm using 1.7 ratio rockers. But I think they were ment to be used with a Crane quick lift cam. I have a Comp cam w/ xer lobes. Yeah I was a little dissapointed but I don't think they were matched to the combo.I feel like what was recomended by the rep. was just buy the most exspenive thing in the catalog not what was best for my combo. oh well I think I should be able to get some of my money back from selling them.

 

Yeah. The XER lobes and Crane rockers aren't the best setup, and the stock ratio also didn't net much/any gain either.

 

I learned about the aftermarket roller rockers the hard way as well. With the stock rockers I had 415.4hp and 402.8lb/ft at the wheels. I installed the Crane Gold Roller Rockers with the variable geometry along with the pushrods that come with that kit. With no other modifications I took the car back to the same dyno. It made 375.6hp and 374.2lb/ft at the wheels. I lost 40hp and 28lb/ft at the wheels just by installing these rockers. My tuner said that the stock rockers are best because of their light weight. Even with the roller tips and variable geometry of the new rockers, the huge added weight of them robbed a ton of power. I will be re-installing the stock rockers and selling the Crane kit. If I had a scanner handy I would attach the dyno graph showing the side-by-side comparison. It is bad. And no, the rockers were not improperly installed in case anyone is wondering. The weird thing is that after I installed them the car felt faster seat of the pants, but the dyno doesn't lie.

 

Don't always blame the part. Sounds like component mis-match or another issue. You just don't lose 40 hp with a rocker swap without there being something wrong. And if you have ever followed Tony Mamo's setup with his original motor, those HP figures were generated with the same Crane rockers that you are now pulling off.

 

Wait...variable geometry?

 

Hard to believe. If you used these rockers(Cranes) with stock valve springs, I can probably see this happening, otherwise you have other issues imo.