Been a while since I posted anything related to my truck. The 400 is getting some engine upgrades!!!
I've been fighting valvetrain issues for a while now. Once the engine heated up I would get valve ticking. I've narrowed it down to the lifters. Even when the lifters were brand new they seemed off. My uncle primed them himself (He has built many many engines) and said from the start that the lifters didn't feel right. They were the QualCast lifters. I'm not familiar with the company so I've decided to put in some Comp Cams lifters to match the Comp XE256 cam that I'm running. While I'm in the engine I've decided to replace my rockers with some Scorpion roller rockers (Tim suggested I do this initially). They were expensive, but damn they are pretty!

New Comp lifters:


My beautiful new Scorpion roller rockers. I went with a pedestal mount so that I wouldn't need to re-machine the heads.


To aid in priming the lifters, I've currently got the lifters soaking in some new oil.


I got all my parts from Summit Racing. Summit is a fantastic company and I've used them several times. Their customer service is great. Shipping is very fast and is also free for all orders over $99 (which my orders always are). While ordering parts I came across this banner and had to buy it! It's roughly 6ftx3ft. Now I have to find a place in the shop to hang it.

 

FYI...
Soaking lifters is old school.
They come with oil in them.
Also by not pre-soaking them you are able to confirm your lifter pre-load much easier.
Priming the engine will then take care of any "priming" you need.

We have seen the Comp lifters being a lot noisier, they have to much leak down rate. Be listening for that.
We tried a few different lifters. We used to send out a tray of lifters and have 1 out of 16 defected.
We handled the Qualcast lifter. They inspected great, so we sold them for a while.
I looked up your order and you also did get the Qualcast.
We have moved over to Johnson, kind of we wanted to sell American.
Through it all, we have found out that there is no perfect manufacture,
All of them have had issue. Seems like some are more frequent.

Hopefully you did not get the Scorpion 1024 rocker.
You will have rocker arm geometry issues.

 

I believe that I did. It was the set that Summit sold. I know they have the stock 1.73 ratio. Did I purchase the wrong set? Should I have gone with the 1056? Looking at the specs I couldn't tell a difference between the two. The application guide only lists the 1056s as only working with 385s ie. 429s and 460s, which I find interesting.

 

My recommendation is that you return them to Summit and buy the ones Tim recommends from him. Why? First, you are getting advice from him.

Second, there have been problems with Scorpion rockers - do a search on it and you'll get a lot of hits. And Tim knows which ones work and which ones don't. I went through this when I was buying as there was a LOT of discussion regarding the Scorpion rockers.

 

I would've gladly ordered from Tim. He has always treated me great and provided fantastic service. The only reason I ordered from Summit was because I had some other parts on order and I thought it would be easier to do everything in one order. I just want to order what I need and get everything buttoned up. I have no problem returning the 1024s if I need something different. I just want everything done the right way.

 

I like this Gary guy...I should put him on payroll

Honestly, just send them back and pick up the Scorpion 1056
and a set of rocker arm shims.

Problem is Scorpion used (1) pedestal stand for all of their rockers
that are pedestal mounted.
Because of this, they are consistently way to short, you have to shim .080-.100" or more.
The 1056 is a larger body 1.73 ratio rocker arm and does a better job.
You will still have to shim about .040-.060" depending on how your machinist
left your valve stem height.

I am kicking around the idea of making my own pedestal because of this reason.

 

.
Hey! I deserve to be on payroll, also... LOL!

. Just want to second or third the advice about shimming up the rocker for proper lifter piston depth/pre-load... also may have made your earlier lifters work better as well... some people think your only choice with this rocker design is just bolt it back together like it was, but that's not so...

 

Thanks, Tim! That's an honor. But, there are lots of TMI supporters on here given the quality products and good advice you have. However, we also realize that time is money, so when you are giving advice you aren't taking orders, building engines, shipping product, etc. And, I'm selfish - I want TMI to stay around as you are the only game in town on some things for the 335 Series.

As for the pedestals, they would be nice. But, would they be cost-effective? In other words, can you make them cheaply enough to price them where they'd sell? Or, maybe make them part of a kit, inc rockers and cam, and don't sell them separately. (No need to answer that, just something to think about.)

 

Lots of shims!

It would be nice to have different height pedestals available! I inquired Scorpion about this myself. If they were inexpensive enough (maybe $35-$40 a set?) then I'd probably buy a couple of sets just to have on hand. That's pretty inexpensive I realize... you'd have to team up with a current manufacturer to make that happen.

 

Hey tmi. I need to talk to u about purchasing a kit please if u are still doing that I see this post is almost 4 years old

 

How do I reach this Tim?

 

I really need help y'all. I'm new to mechanics and been killing my self to learn I need some info on what the first things I should do do my motor is. I have a 1977 Ford f100 w 400 and new process 435 trans. It's 4x4. PS and PB. It seems to be great truck. But just few issues. Seems to lose power and stall when I shift just a lil then back to normal. Shifts are lil hard sometimes lil jumpy. Seems like the clutch is tighter now then when I got it? It's original everything carb , alternateror, starter, all original. So I know I need to replace like the above mentioned , coil, plugs wires water pump.. should I change the harmonic balancer and while I'm down there should I re do timing chain.?? Can I do a new cam and such w engine in and should I do the before I work bottom of motor. I plan to redo manifold , exausht , intake, rods and springs and bearings and gaskets. The works. But what should I do first or immediate. I got about a grand to spend..I got a Holley 850cfm double pumper w vaccum secondary on trade. Is that to big?. I'm trying to Craigslist and such for exuaghst and intakes and such.

 

Also she seems how fast should coolant move in the radiator??

 

And I am having a pinging sound worse when cold sounds like coming from driver side rear of motor. Seems to echo thru exhaust. ?? Is this a rush rod or something.

 

Also it has only 20psi oil pressure once fully warmed and even if u run her hard she hardly ever will hit 60_65; once hot.. is this OK?