Roller Rockers in Stock

"By the way, I have dyno'd engines with both stamped and roller rockers and the power gains are insignificant or null. The main issue is reliability."

Right, and when we have 8800 RPM big blocks in A and AA we will need bigger tires and other things. Do you think with roller rockers guys will run 350 on the seat and 7 or 800 open on there valve train? I'm sure of it. You will see more power. Back in the day the guys that ran good in stock and superstock were the ones that could look at the rule book work within it and bend the rules when they had to, and make the stuff fast with what they had. Not many people could do it. Now you have a class of people who when they get stuck on some problem, or run out of talent trying to make something run they cry for rule changes. If this stuff is too hard or expensive maybe the class isn't for you. Bracket racing is alive and well, GO DO IT. Don't lobby for rule changes because you can't make your situation any better.

Jeff is a good guy, and has a cool car. But his hobby seems to be to try to get rule changes in our class when he is not racing. He got us aftermarket Disc brakes, he was trying to get Solid lifters for everyone because it's just better. Now he is in Super Stock, I don't hear much about rule changes in that class, but still for ours. this stuff has to stop. Draw a line in the sand already and lets race.

[SSDiv6]

Originally Posted by Todd Hoven

"By the way, I have dyno'd engines with both stamped and roller rockers and the power gains are insignificant or null. The main issue is reliability."

Right, and when we have 8800 RPM big blocks in A and AA we will need bigger tires and other things. Do you think with roller rockers guys will run 350 on the seat and 7 or 800 open on there valve train? I'm sure of it. You will see more power. Back in the day the guys that ran good in stock and superstock were the ones that could look at the rule book work within it and bend the rules when they had to, and make the stuff fast with what they had. Not many people could do it. Now you have a class of people who when they get stuck on some problem, or run out of talent trying to make something run they cry for rule changes. If this stuff is too hard or expensive maybe the class isn't for you. Bracket racing is alive and well, GO DO IT. Don't lobby for rule changes because you can't make your situation any better.

Jeff is a good guy, and has a cool car. But his hobby seems to be to try to get rule changes in our class when he is not racing. He got us aftermarket Disc brakes, he was trying to get Solid lifters for everyone because it's just better. Now he is in Super Stock, I don't hear much about rule changes in that class, but still for ours. this stuff has to stop. Draw a line in the sand already and lets race.

Todd...why do you isolate this to A and AA class big blocks? I think you have a long ways to learn about race engines. The big blocks already have a great rocker arm. The racers are already using high spring pressures and the aftermarket rocker arms does not have nothing to do with allowing the use of more spring pressure. When you have an engine with hydraulic lifters, you are limited on how much spring pressure you can run even when you run Schubecks or Sherman lifters.

Are you selective in reading posts? Earlier I made it clear the problem is the QUALITY of OEM replacement rocker arms. I also shared that I have seen rocker arms failures with springs pressures of 125/290 lbs.

By the way...I did not know that Jeff Lee had the power to get rules changed...I will have a talk with him to get some rules changed!!! By the way, there were many that advocated and requested aftermarket disc brakes and the decision was made for safety reasons. The higher classs cars are running speeds that the OEM brakes were not designed for. The same for wheelie bars; after the DeArmond and other similar incidents, NHRA did not have a choice than to allow the wheelie bars.

[Alan Roehrich]

No, you WON"T be able to raise spring pressures, UNLESS you get stud girdles to go with the roller rockers. The 7/16" stud will STILL be the weak point. Note that the ONLY difference between the Holroyd setup and the older 7/16" stuff is the STUD DIAMETER. The rocker is made of the same material, the same thickness, and the same heat treat. In fact, the rocker ball itself is thinner, and material is REMOVED where the ball rides in the rocker to allow for the larger stud. We've done some serious testing, and we've also done full failure analysis on failed rockers. The fast 396 cars already turn 8200 or more now. We already run enough spring pressure, we can control all the profile you can generate for an 0.842" lifter. Put roller rockers on a fast big block car and watch the studs start breaking, unless you get stud girdles as well. It doesn't matter whether the stud or the rocker breaks, the damage will be close to the same.

Shaft rocker engines are a different situation all together, especially if they have large diameter lifters. With the rules allowing big pushrods, if you allow roller rockers, they'll be on 8620 bar stock shafts. Put that setup on top of large diameter lifters, combined with big or multiple carburetors and you'll REALLY see something happen.

I hate to see racers scrounging for used parts, I don't want to see cars parked because you just can't get any parts. But roller rockers are not the solution, at least not one that we can live with.