So I finally had the chance to check my wipe pattern today and I initially forgot to put the motor at tdc so about 2 hours of my work became useless after that realization....

Anyway with the #1 at TDC I bolted the rockers down with the stock pushrods and an adjustable one and got the following wipe pattern. I also tried it with shims but didnt really have a change in the pattern all that much. Theres nothing too special about the setup since its a stock cam and stock heads so I think I should be fine with this?

Still debating on the pushrod size I'd like to do 11/32 built a lot of sponsors have told me to just stick with 5/16 in this app. Springs are BTR platinums with TI retainers. Checking the pushrod length with the shims i got 12.75 turns on the intake side ad 12.25 on the exhaust, removing the shims I got exactly 1 less turn which makes sense because one shim is .048 and 1 turn of the pushrod is .05. So without shims I'm taking the average which is 11.5 turns so 6.800+11.5*.05=7.3875+.07 preload and I get roughly 7.45 which seems in line what others have used with this setup

 

looks good to me.

 

Which lifters you got? If they're LS7 you'll be golden.

 

ya man stock motor so stock ls7 lifters

 

Very good pattern from what I see.

 

How are you rotating the motor to check? With the springs in place you may be getting some depression of the lifter plunger and not achieving full lift.

 

subscribed

 

I put the motor at tdc and bolt the rockers down to 0 lash or very close to it since I had stock pushrods and an adjustable one the roll the motor over a couple times.

When darth and I talked to Tony he said that even though you may not achieve absolute full lift it will be close enough for a good data point

 

I'm just curious why you're checking wipe pattern on a stock motor & considering an 11/32 pushrod?

 

Because I like to be sure my builds are correct, and there's no harm in running an 11/32 pushrod. It's good insurance and Idl when a 5/16 pushrod starts deflecting but I'd rather not find out

 

There is no harm in going to a thicker pushrod. It will help prevent high RPM deflection. If you do decide to stick with 5/16, at least go with a .105 wall.

 

A thicker 5/16 0.105" wall pushrod is only marginally stiffer than a 0.080" wall. More weight with hardly any payoff in bending stiffness.

 

All that just seems like overkill for a stock motor. Chromoly pushrods I can see, 5/16 anyway.

 

I hate the mentality of "if it's good enough, it's good enough." Instead of let's overbuild the **** out of it. That's how things last.

 

I'm sort of in that same category of "too much is almost enough". I probably didn't NEED dedicated axle oiling on the lifters, but I know I'll never worry about lifters...

 

The engineer cringes in me when people say that. I overbuild things every day at work to make sure they don't fail. That's the right way to do these things.

If I said marginal parts were good enough on my car every time it wouldn't be half as quick as it is lol

 

I didn't say that was the best option, but if he decides to go with a 5/16 pushrod, then .105" wall is better than .080" wall. Also, pushrod weight doesn't really affect much of anything.

In another thread, I recommended that he take a look at Trend 3/8 pushrods. I'm a big proponent of putting as thick of a pushrod as the head will allow. Reducing deflection is the key here, especially when using an aluminum rocker.

There is nothing wrong with using a thicker pushrod on a stock engine.

 

Also, to me, the time it takes to get in and replace parts is less costly than the parts themselves, unless we are talking big ticket items like heads. The $80 you save on rods is cheap compared to replacing them if there's an issue

 

At some point the best springs; fanciest rockers; and stiffest push rods are "lipstick on the pig" of the GM cam lobe shape. Intellectual horsepower sky rockets with the over engineered approach but its no longer contributing to a smoother graph. IMO the lobe being used becomes the limiter

 

This post is sig worthy !!