are there roller rockers available for the 300-6, where can i get them, and what advantages would i find with them?

MontanaFord

 

I'm not for sure on this, but I read in the post where Rivera talked to Clifford's and it mentioned something about BBC Roller Rockers. One advantage would be longevity. The valve stem ends and the rockers themselves will last longer due to less friction.

Nightrain

 

there should be some kind of power increase in that but the question is how much??

 

I don't know if there will be a power increase or not. They claim to reduce friction, but I'm not for sure. The only difference that I can tell that they make is that they reduce wear on the valvetrain components.

Nightrain

 

there would definitaly be an increase in power, due to the lack of friction, but would it be enough to brag about, Im really not sure, like nightrain said, valve train will last much much longer, and oil may not break down as quickly. it may even be a little easier to rev the long cranked beast.

 

sounds to me like it might be a good investment, depending on the price

 

I'm using BBC 1.7 ratio rockers for my build.

 

Crane and harland offer roller rockers for the big 6...question is, has anyone ran em and noticed a difference??

 

Roller rockers will provide a small increase in HP. Absolutely nothing you can feel but it will show up on a dyno. They will significantly reduce side loading of the valve stems, but is that a problem area on the 300? Not really.

High lift rockers are basically a poor man's camshaft. If you're going to do a full engine rebuild, there's no reason to go to high lift, just use a cam that gives you what you want and the stock ratio. If you're going to do the head only, then higher ratio rockers make sense, EXCEPTon a late model 300. If your engine has the phenolic timing gear, you must change to a metal gearset when you do anything that increases valvetrain loads. If you're going to have the head off and the front cover off to pull the gear, finish the job. Pull the side cover, change the cam and lifters and put it back together with stock rario roller rockers. Just my .02

 

roller rockers would for sure increase power, less friction=more power, just the law of physics...

 

I rank roller rockers pretty much near the bottom of modification priorities on the Ford six (I do have them in my smallblock Chevy, but it makes power to six grand). Although a higher lift will get you more power if you don't want to swap the bumpstick (a cheaper route), two things come to mind:

1) Are they really necessary for an engine that won't make any power past 4000 with the stock head? With the low ceiling powerband, I don't feel that there will be all that much decreased wear. If you want to spin it to five grand and beyond, by all means, on they go!

2) For the expense, aren't there other far more cost-effective mods? Like a cam, a little valve bowl work, smaller chamber head, f'rinstance?

If you are using a hot cam, roller rockers are practically a necessity. The Crane 260 cam and those in its range and below can be used with the stock sled rockers and a little more valvespring, and this makes more sense to me to do first (note: I am a little biased towards low-end grunt and a wide, flat torque plateau from off-idle to 4000 in my particular intended usage, so if you want a street race-truck instead of something that will accelerate uphill pulling a trailer, please disregard my opinion entirely).

I wouldn't bother using 1.6:1 stock ratio roller rockers. If I'm gonna use them at all, they're gonna make more of a difference for the expense and labor involved.

I'll throw 1.7 roller rockers on mine...eventually. Well after the ported EFI head goes on (maybe next weekend), and the RV-type cam goes in.

 

Don't let the claims of increased valvetrain life sway your decision on roller rockers. They may reduce wear on the valveguides, but the valve tips will wear the same. A properly designed stamped rocker will roll across the top almost like a roller will at the lifts we are working with. The roller rocker itself is a liability. They usually only last about 30k miles, and I've seen plenty worn out well before that.

 

This is why I like to use steel roller rockers, either the Comp Cams roller-tip, or their hi-zoot stainless ones. Aluminum's rapid wear cycle leaves much to be desired. For example, you can maybe get one season (if that) out of a set of aluminum rods, sometimes only one good pass! I imagine as the aluminum rockers wear (trunnion shell loosens, tip roller pin ovals its hole), they embed all sorts of flakes into the babbitt layer of your main, rod, and cam bearing shells...after clogging the filter with little silver flecks and blowing the bypass open before the next oil change interval. With high spring pressures, the stock rockers do the same thing: they'll wear rapidly and gall. That is, if they don't crack somewhere first, or snap or pull the bolt right out...

 

I don't think the ferrous metal rockers are much better than aluminum. Any aluminum rocker worth buying has steel inserts in all the wear areas, so they don't get wobbled out like the used to. The problem is that with a rolling contact you need the surfaces to be about a 45 Rockwell C or they will brinel and eat the bearings. That's about as hard as a file, and makes the material very brittle. The only rockers I've really ever had decent luck with in customer's cars are the 1.6 LT4 rollers from GM Performance Parts, and the only reason they are any good is because they had to design them to last through the 3/36 factory warranty. Ironically, they are aluminum.

 

"Ironically they're aluminum"...heh! Good one! I've had the Comp roller-tips in a SBC for around 40k not so easy miles, and they're still hanging tight. We'll see what happens down the road.... I use stock rockers for mild-to-warm street buildups, or a good, thick set of aftermarket stamped ones with grooved pivots (except for the shaft-mouted FE's etc., obviously, which you can find stock-type adjustable ones for---Ford put 'em on the 427 etc.-any solid-lifter cammed motor), and this has always worked well. Good info, esp. about the LT4 set! Now if only they can be made to fit on a Ford...I think I'm gonna see if a set of M motor or 460 rockers will fit with the right geometry, or can be made to do so with a pedestal shim...not getting hopeful, but maybe. If I have to tap the bolt hole oversize with a bottoming tap and a homemade centering jig, this can only be a Good Thing! Next 300 I build (this hi-mile mill I have now is just getting bolt-ons, the oil pressure is still not bad, not a lot of cold-start skirt slap, but I do have the whole EFI motor from a '93 van that got a little overheated, skirt-scuffed to a nice, shiny, crosshatch-free finish ---NOT!---with a small scratch or two. The bonus being the reman head I am happily massaging that was stuffed on afterward that spoke its whole story to me upon teardown after I scored the whole kaboodle with the EFI setup, manifolds, harness, sensors, and computer for $200 from the boneyard. Needs an overbore to clean 'er up, the journals you can eat off of, it's either electric fuel pump time or machining out the pump boss...) will have flattops (likely custom, unless I score an older set of rods with the right pin-hole diameter), ARP lower-end fasteners, windage tray, fully balanced, and a professionally ported+flowed for good port velocity in the desired lift range 240 head with 1.94/1.6 stainless undercut valves, screw-in studs, guideplates etc. and a little more cam than the Crane 260 (maybe the Comp 268 f'rinstance with some 1.7's), methinks. I've seen brinelled roller bearings and inserts on roller rockers. Not pretty. The Roller Rocker Street Longevity Practical Dilemma continueth, I suppose...