Hi Team,

Easy question I done some reading lot of different opinions.

My Mods:

243 heads cleaned up by the machine shop nothing special no port n polish just cleaned up n worked back to stock specs

Ls6 intake manifold

Stock cam

Should i get chromoloy push rods or use my stocks for now

 

If your cam and springs are still stock, use stock. if not, step up to 5/16"

 

Yellow springs so I guess stock yes.

One problem though when I took them out i just put em away in a zip lock bag I didn't put them in order thinking I was gonna upgrade to chromoloy.

Is it okay to just drop em back in ?

Anyone else on their opinions stock or chromoloy?

 

Wouldn't chromoloy be good regardless ?

 

yeah, increasing PR strength is NEVER a bad idea

 

Thanks man!

Anyone else 230 views only 1 opinion a few more would be good to settle my mind.

Thanks.

 

If you got the cash why not

 

Do you plan to cam eventually?

Hardened pushrods are never a bad idea. Hell, I'd say go with 11/32nd Mantons or something...

 

Normal chromoly push rods are cheap and less likely to bow and flex. I would always prefer a good rod like the Manton's mentioned above. Adding a cam will most likely have a smaller base circle and need a longer rod than the 7.4" stocker.

Hydraulic lifter systems are not as critical for position as a solid setup. It's still important though as the parts do wear into each other.

From a personal standpoint on a stockish motor I'd get a cheap set of chromoly from a good company. Once you go to a bigger cam and springs, go with a Manton series 3/4.

 

Thanks for everyone's reply and input! put my mind at ease...


I ordered some Trick flow 7.400 ones since the cam is stock and the rest of the mods are stock specs as well.


Thanks team appreciate it !

 

They will bow and flex as much as stock. The Chrome Moly doesn't alter the stiffness of the pushrod at all, only hardness and failure point.

 

I would ditch those yellow springs. Get a new set from GM if those are the original yellow 243 head springs from around the 2002 era. They were prone to failure even on a stock setup. The new springs are I believe blue and a better spring.

 

Someone else understands modulus!

 

heard the same, but the heads I got were in great condition with only 60 000KM on em...

Also the machine shop I took it to is pretty reputable around here, great work he did on em


and I asked him like 5 times if the spring rate/pressure was good and they were all holding the right rate/pressure he said.


but thinking about it I may just get blues, I could do a valve spring swap with the heads on the motor right.

 

Valve springs can be swapped with the heads installed. It's not a matter of spring stiffness, the fatigue life of the yellow springs have historically been limited and a number of guys have had a failure that then wiped out the piston. Since this is a new setup for you with springs that have been already run for some time, I would replace them with either new GM springs or an upgrade like the PSI 1511ML springs.

 

got my push rods, but when I install them do I have to push slightly down on them to push down on the lifter out of the tray a bit so it touches the cam?


and how much pressure would you say is necessary? I don't wanna push it to much or the all the way out and down into the crank case or too low and it grinds away at the cam when I start it or some ****..

 

If you have a good set of retainer cups, you have to push fairly hard to get the lifters back onto the cam if they're being retained. No biggie.

 

Thanks 1970camaro got them down on the cams slight pressure.

What is everyone's take/tip on rocker arms ?

Tighten all at 22ft lbs ?

Tighten the ones down then the ones up rotate the crank

OR the 10000 ways that are confusing ?

 

Follow the GM service manual.

 

How would I know if its at TDC? my front cover is still on, and engine is in the car.


I know I can put my finger over the sparkplug hole and feel the compression but once the compression is done the piston still has to go up a bit more to get to TDC no?


So how would I know when its exactly at TDC with the front cover on ?