I was looking at my jegs magazine last night and there was a ad there for the harland sharp aluminum roller rock. They claim you get 15 to 40 more horses just for using their rockers. Is this possible I know rollers slow down friction but give you that much gain. If so do you have to port and polish your heads or could you slap a set onto a stock head.
Thanks
The ones you're talking about will indeed achieve 40 HP on an 8000 RPM engine, but they won't give you any big effects on the street. The biggest advantage they can give you is reduced friction, but this isn't very important except at very high engine speeds. I like the adjustability of them, but with a stock cam and lifters, this really means nothing. I have a set of Crane Energizers, and they make a barely noticable difference, but the only reason I bought them is because I'm using Windsor Jr. heads, which have screw in studs and guideplates, so it was primarily because the stock ones wouldn't work. You're better off spending the $200 on an MSD ignition box and coil, you'll really feel the difference that will give you. TK
'77 F100, 302 (the aftermarket Prodigy), C4
Cadet Second Lieutenant John F. Daly III
South Carolina Corps of Cadets, The Citadel
The TorqueKing
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John F. Daly III
'77 F-100 LWB, 100% Aftermarket 302-R.I.P. (Stolen)
'95 F-150 SWB, 300 I-6 Now with 240,000 miles!
Heavy Metal - Ford Trucks - Beer - Powerlifting - Libertarian Politics MySpace Page - Add me!
[updated:LAST EDITED ON 29-Aug-02 AT 02:43*PM (EST)]Keith,
I'm no expert on heads so I can't say what kinda gains you'd get. What I can tell you is what you have to do to use roller rockers. Roller rockers require that you use guideplates so you need hardened guideplates and pushrods. Then most likely your stock valve covers won't fit over the taller rockers so you'll need new valve covers. Given the expense for all of that plus the cost of the rockers, I wouldn't use them unless I was gonna at least put in a little bigger cam. If you go with a bigger cam you'd most likely need to have the heads machined to use screw in studs. And I'd open up the heads as much as possible by port and polishing and using bigger valves.
A good set of roller rockers will cost you around $150-175 new. There are some cheaper ones out there but as the saying goes "you get what you pay for".
My $0.02 worth.
Ron
Edit to add:
It takes me too long to collect my thoughts.....John jumped in there and answered ya.....lol.
I thoroughly agree with what he said about the MSD. For a relatively low dollar HP gain they're tough to beat.
__________________
Ron
2005 F250 SD SC 6.0 FX4- big Red (real trucks don't need sparkplugs)
1985 F150 4x4 351W- ol Blue
1976 F150 SC 360/C6
roller rockers when installed corectly can reduce side load on the valve guide. this improved action can add to valve guide life.i run a set of ford racing on a set of iron gt 40s which are pedestal mount. the other advantage to a quality rocker is correct ratio. the stock cast/stamped rockers can vary greatly from one to another. the stock rocker covers can make contact in certain applications. an easy fix to that is to use two gaskets per side, also the baffles sometimes need to be messages. i don't see a 40 hp increase in a stock application maybe 7-8 hp tops.
Good call on the rollers not fitting under the stock covers. I have ARP valve cover studs with 3 Fel-Pro rubber gaskets as spacers. This is the cheapest way to do this, and they won't leak as long as you use elephant snot (3M weatherstriping and gasket adhesive) to glue them together. Sounds dumb, but it works, and billet valve cover spacers sell for $110. MSD ignition will ensure 100% combustion of fuel and air, and will help extend the life of your spark plugs. I picked up 1 MPG from it.
'77 F100, 302 (the aftermarket Prodigy), C4
Cadet Second Lieutenant John F. Daly III
South Carolina Corps of Cadets, The Citadel
The TorqueKing
__________________
John F. Daly III
'77 F-100 LWB, 100% Aftermarket 302-R.I.P. (Stolen)
'95 F-150 SWB, 300 I-6 Now with 240,000 miles!
Heavy Metal - Ford Trucks - Beer - Powerlifting - Libertarian Politics MySpace Page - Add me!
The MSD box and coil is well worth it, just make sure you re-gap your plugs to .060" to feel the big difference. I've noticed a distinct seat of the pants difference, nothing major, but noticeable. I've also gone from an average of 8.4-8.9 mpg to about 10-11. That big of a difference is probably more from replacing a shoddy coil than anything else, but it's still well worth it.
The Law
1989 F-250 HD 4x4
460, C6, BW 13-56
Almost Stock
__________________
The Law
1989 F-250 HD 4x4 460 C6
High Plains Drifter
