The Crane brand pedestal-mount roller rockers are available only for the Windsor class (289/302/351W) engines.

 

Thats right, I rechecked. I skipped over the little SB next to it in the catalog, just skimming real quick anyway trying to get an answer up. Well gee wiz, that leaves even fewer options, eh.

-Daniel

 

I put on the FMS pedestal mount rockers on my 400, I like the quality of these very much. They have been running for over a year and there have been no problems. I bought the FMS valve covers and had a small clearance problem with the PVC baffle, had to bend the sheet metal a little bit. Did not try stock covers because I wanted the better sealing flange from the cast covers and the cool factor. Pics of these rockers installed in my gallery.

Wes

 

Ok....There is something that I dont quiet understand?.. On some Rockers that I have looed at they say that the pushrod guid plates is required.. What is the purpose in those?.. Can I install the rockers without the pushrod guid plates??...

 

It is my understanding that the guide plates are needed to maintain the push rod position with some roller rockers. The FMS pedestal mount rockers that I bought did not require any machining of the head, guide plates or the hardened push rods that are required when running guide plates. When I take this engine up to about 4800-5000 RPM, which is rare, it does not miss a beat, very stable and lots of power all the way through.

On Edit

The machinist that worked up my heads worked use to for Jesel and is in my consideration a master at getting performance out of an engine. I kicked a lot of ideas around with him on these heads. With the primary consideration for this engine being lots of torque and running on pump gas. The heads were ported mostly on the exhaust side and cleaned up on the intake side. Positive stop Teflon valve stem seals were installed on the intake valves and good quality umbrella seals on the exhaust side. The rocker arms were shot, rather than dump $100 into stock rockers I wanted to use the money toward some roller rockers, most of the rockers required that the pedestal be cut down flat and the rocker bolt hole be machined larger and taped. These rockers also required guide plates and hardened push rods. The machinist told me that for the Max RPM that my engine would be seeing that I would not need the bigger studs and that the Ford Motor Sport rockers would more than meet my needs without all of the added machining and part cost. Those needs being reduced friction in the valve train and extending valve guide life. I am running about 8.7:1 compression, I wanted more when we were doing this build but did not have the piston options in my budget. Still this engine flat gets this 6100 pound truck down the road and gets better mileage than the stock engine.

Wes

 

Rocky- It sounds like you have a VERY good machinist there that knows his stuff, -you lucky dog! That is a nice engine also.

I am using Scorpion pedestal mount roller rockers and paid about $180 for the set (eBay distributor).

Yella Terra $$ (Australia) has/had pedestal mount rockers also, but they are aligned with a roll pin that is drilled into the head, I can't find the company any more tho.

Guys -Don't forget to pour a quart of oil over your vavetrain before you start up your engine.

 

Ok.. I oredered them around 6 I guess.. I went with crane cams and the conversion kit...I called my machine shop, I told him about the whole kit. He told me that it should perform awsome... The conversion kit makes my whole valve train fully adjustable with hydrolic lifters, No friction WHAT SO EVER!..I liked that..Here is my set up, its at the main bottom of the page last Paragraph..

http://www.cranecams.com/master/raconver.htm

I like the idea of not buying hardened pushrods where it has guid plates, there nylon coated... I think I will be happy with my purshase....

-Evan..(Custom)

 

Thanks Torque1st!. I did not know about the Scorpion roller rockers when I did this build, as I recall the FMS roller rockers cost me about $235 from summit, maybe could of saved some cash. I read and learned a lot from this forum before I started the rebuild and I think I got a good bang for buck ratio by going into this with some 400 knowlege. Still learning all the time. Also thanks again to all who responed to my questions when I was working on this project last year. It has been fun, I have most every thing I wanted in a truck and quite a bit cheaper than a new truck!

 

I researched here and did a huge amount of reading for almost 5 years b4 I came up with my build. I also had the pleasure of driving a lot of brand new 400's when they first came out. It was an absolutely amazing engine. At the time I was driving every engine Ford made regularly in many different vehicles. I LIKED that 400 tho...

 

79_Custom:

Just my .02
You will like the 52655, however if you are using stock head bolts they do not clear the plates on the bottom row of the mounts ( At least they didn’t on the D5AE-A2A we have). So, they must be put on after the heads are on and must be removed before you can remove the top row of head bolts... Otherwise get a set of cap screw head bolts…

The crane 13744 didn't clear our stock covers on a 77-400, so we had to get the nice shiny tall covers. I would recommend you get all new pushrods ( if you haven’t already ) with these new rockers and cam setup...

You may wan to consider valve lash caps. These will protect the rollers since you are installing new rockers on used valve stems that had pedestal mounted rockers before.

Also be sure to check the clearance in the heads for the lift of the cam you are using.
If you haven’t done this DO IT…. It may save you some grief.
Remember you should have a min .060 beyond the lift for safety in terms of coil bind…

The stock springs we had on a set of remand heads bound at 1.280. They were installed at 1.805. 1.805 – 1.280 = .525 bind lift.
You need to also consider the valve seal used as well. Felpro stock umbrella seals are around .200 to .215 (Intake) thick. So, a stock D5AE-A2A with single groove valves measures approx .780 between valve guide and a crane retainer. .780 - .200 = .580 - .60 = .520 max lift with safety. Different retainers have different installed heights on the stem so you should measure it to be safe.
A cheap positive type seal we use ( Clevite 216-1067 used on 351w) is approx .160 thick. It requires machining with a .562 tool.

Now your heads may be completely different and may work fine with .530 lift. I am just saying check it to be sure….

Enjoy!!!

David

 

Thanks David

 

anyone here use the crane conversion setup? i have a new C to build.

 

_Custom,

I have a 351C with Aussie heads. I still use an Edelbrock performer as a rev limiter. The FMS rockers are quiet, high quality, and just a great buy. I used stock length push rods. These rockers don't require guideplates. Again, don't forget the shim kit. These are not adjustable, same as stock rockers. You use the shim kit to establish the proper lifter preload. I used all .090" provided for mine.

Steve

 

By the time you buy hardened pushrods, guideplates, and machine the heads it is cheaper to buy the FMS or Scorpion units. They work better than them wobble rockers also. You shim them to set the preload and you are done

The Crane conversion units reduce some friction in the fulcrum but they still rub across the valve stem and wear the guides. My feeling is do the job right...

 

Here is a pic of Crane's Pushrod Guideplate Conversion Kit (52655-16) and Crane's Energizer Roller Rockers 13744 just sitting on the second stud. The locknut is not installed in this pic.
Cost $275 for both.
Also note that the scratches on the valve lash caps are not from the rockers as they are roller tip. The scratches ( discoloration )are from stock rockers when they were used on different heads.

This kit does not require machining and you can use stock pushrods.
They are expensive and being adjustable you have to set each one every time you install them. They also will not fit under the stock covers. You will have to get tall covers. There is also the head bolt issue I described earlier in the thread.

David