i am thinking of getting these roller rockers i have a 97 lt1 camaro are mine self aligning or non self aligning and can someone explain the difference between the 2, which is better and why? should i change the guide plates

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LT1-V...spagenameZWDVW

or these
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LT1-V...spagenameZWDVW

 

Your factory rockers are self-aligning. They have little nubs on the tips, which keep the rocker centered on the valvestem tip. BOTH of those Ebay ads appear to be for self-aligning rockers.

NON-self aligning rockers don't have the little nubs to keep the rocker aligned, so instead, you have to bolt up aftermarket guideplates beneath the rocker stud. This actually holds the pushrods in line, which in turn keeps the rocker centered on the valvestem.

Non-self aligning might be a little noisier, but have greater stability for high-rpm applications. Most Non-SA rockers also require 7/16" studs, as opposed to our factory studs (which are 7/16" on bottom where it screws into the cylinder head, yet 3/8" on top for the rocker arm).

Guideplates are ONLY used on Non-self aligning rockers.

 

so would it hurt to use self aligning and guide plates or would that not work

 

No, you don't want to use guideplates with self-aligning rockers. Self-aligning rockers do not require guideplates, and adding guideplates to them may cause problems.

 

Don't get those RR. They're a very weak design and you'd be buying another set soon. Only ones I would reccommend would be the Comp Cams Pro Mag full roller rockers that are NSA. I went with the 1.6 ratio with 7/16" studs. This is the best setup you can get without doing chromemoly, which I'm not sure they have yet. Crane Gold and the GMPP rockers are also good, but supposedly not as high quality as the CC ones. You decide on what you're budget is and then go from there, but you definitely get what you pay for, and the valvetrain is not a place where you want to cut corners. Also, for any studs/bolts, only get ARP or the CC equivalent. Good luck.

EDIT: Only guideplates to use are the GMPP ones.

 

You're in luck! The Comp Pro-Mags are actually made of 8650 chromemoly steel.

Otherwise, I fully agree with everything you said.

 

I use the comp cam chrommoly 1.6 self aligning. No problems, just make sure you set the lash right if your runing a solid-roller cam (stock hydro roller cam makes it a sinch)