LA small block,Do you put an oil passage in your head stud?

What do you do for oiling to rockers with head studs

  • Nothing run them dry

    Votes: 3 33.3%
  • Sprayers in covers

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Open the passage

    Votes: 4 44.4%
  • Modify the head stud

    Votes: 2 22.2%

  • Total voters
    9
  • Poll closed .
-

Oldmanmopar

Going left turning right
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
13,255
Reaction score
12,889
Location
Danielsville Pa. 18038
Or do you just run the studs as they come and do other mods?

The longer head bolt in that position for the rocker oil passage is narrow for oil to flow around the bolt. So what do you do to open the area up when using a wider diameter head stud?

Not doing anything is asking for failure from lack of oil. I see many small blocks with studs and worn out rocker shafts.

My son has been cutting a passage in the stud with a ball end mill. What do you do? I am sure others have their own fix for this beside spray oilers in the covers.
 
I do nothing to a stud on an Edelbrock type of head unless I tube the head for further porting. In that case I remove a little from the stud in the oiling hole. With that said remember I’m running Harland Sharp rockers that require less oiling to start with.
 
Last edited:
I have no answer but appreciate the question because I am going to studs when I rebuild and was thinking about that exact scenario.
 
AMC-style lifters and hollow pushrods?
A hollow push rod would oil the tip of the push rod but what will oil the rocker shaft?
I do nothing to a stud on an Edelbrock type of head unless I tube the head for further porting. In that case I remote a little from the stud in the oiling hole. With that said remember I’m running Harland Sharp rockers that require less oiling to start with.
We run T&D , Harland Sharp, Comp and may others. They all need oil from the shafts for bearings or bushings, It then runs onto and into the rocker tip or roller tip. Sprayers are good for short runs with shafts but there is nothing better then a strong oil flow between the bottom of the shafts and rockers.

.
 
I have no answer but appreciate the question because I am going to studs when I rebuild and was thinking about that exact scenario.

Put a stud in an aluminum head and check the clearance. Then put the factory bolt in. You'll be surprised at the difference.
 
Who told you rockers need oil? They don't need no stinkin oil. LOL
 
I turned a little off the arp stud with iron heads for this.
 
I just dropped a 340 off to an engine builder who seems to be very familiar with this scenario.

I will get his take on this; I haven't thought of it until reading this. This engine will have Edelbrock heads with Harland Sharp rockers and head studs.

Could you use a head bolt in place of a stud at the oil passage?
 
I just dropped a 340 off to an engine builder who seems to be very familiar with this scenario.

I will get his take on this; I haven't thought of it until reading this. This engine will have Edelbrock heads with Harland Sharp rockers and head studs.

Could you use a head bolt in place of a stud at the oil passage?



don’t overthink this. You should see how much oil come out of a .040 hole under pressure. You do what you choose.
 
don’t overthink this. You should see how much oil come out of a .040 hole under pressure. You do what you choose.

I am one who has been programmed to over think things.
I will check with the builder now that my curiosity has been awakened.
I will trust his judgment and post what he tells me.
Thanks for the guidance.
 
For years indexing the stud was used on LA's . When you have high tension valve springs you need oil .

More oiling the Less heat

Less Heat the more consistent valve lash.

Also keeping the springs and valves cool which means consistent spring pressure and less guide wear from over heated stems.

Oil is the rocker assemblies and valve trains best friend. It doesn't matter who's rockers you are running.

Fill in the pole.
 
For years indexing the stud was used on LA's . When you have high tension valve springs you need oil .

More oiling the Less heat

Less Heat the more consistent valve lash.

Also keeping the springs and valves cool which means consistent spring pressure and less guide wear from over heated stems.

Oil is the rocker assemblies and valve trains best friend. It doesn't matter who's rockers you are running.

Fill in the pole.
Could you duplicate the reduced shank onto the stud?
 
Install the stud in the block tight. Mark the stud and remember the hole it came from. (Which side of the block)

Put a mark on the top of the stud toward the oil hole in the block.

Use a ball mill to cut an oil passage relief in the stud at that mark . You now have a oil passage. Do not do this with a cut off wheel or grinder.It will ruin the stud. It should be done in a mill with coolant flow.

When you install the stud the passage you put in should line up with the hole in the block as pictured. This is done on every LA he studs.

DSCN0183.JPG


DSCN0187.JPG
 
Omm, how much do you think that weakens the stud?, and do you torque that stud/nut down differently?
 
There is zero reason to machine the stud like that. As Pittsburghracer pointed out a .040 hole will flow a ton of oil. If you have a roller cam (solid roller...I haven’t used a hydraulic roller is so long I can’t remember how they are done) the 2 and 5 cam bearings are grooved so you get full time oiling to the heads anyway.

And the leaks at the rockers determines how much oil moves up there anyway.

If you have a SFT and studs and you think rocker oiling will be an issue just put a groove in the 2 and 5 cam bearings. That isn’t needed either but it’s better than machining a stress riser in the stud to fix an issue that isn’t there.
 
Some people go to great lengths to appear to "solve" a problem, whether the problem is real or imagined
 
For years indexing the stud was used on LA's . When you have high tension valve springs you need oil .

More oiling the Less heat

Less Heat the more consistent valve lash.

Also keeping the springs and valves cool which means consistent spring pressure and less guide wear from over heated stems.

Oil is the rocker assemblies and valve trains best friend. It doesn't matter who's rockers you are running.

Fill in the pole.
I remember you talkin about this before in the past......would enlarging the hole in the head be acceptable?
 
Omm, how much do you think that weakens the stud?, and do you torque that stud/nut down differently?
I cannot see how it would affect the strength of that stud to amount to anything. Especially how they're doing it.
 
Install the stud in the block tight. Mark the stud and remember the hole it came from. (Which side of the block)

Put a mark on the top of the stud toward the oil hole in the block.

Use a ball mill to cut an oil passage relief in the stud at that mark . You now have a oil passage. Do not do this with a cut off wheel or grinder.It will ruin the stud. It should be done in a mill with coolant flow.

When you install the stud the passage you put in should line up with the hole in the block as pictured. This is done on every LA he studs.

View attachment 1715918765

View attachment 1715918768
Yeah, that's the picture I remember. I like it. Seems like good insurance to me.
 
I remember you talkin about this before in the past......would enlarging the hole in the head be acceptable?
How would the oil go up around the stud to get to the hole in the head. Many did different things over the years to get oil to the rocker shafts on the LA's.

I remember someone years back ran a line to the shaft. Worked great until the line cracked off. There have been so many trying to fix this problem over the years . Some worked and some didn't. Some were only able to be done at a great expense with special parts.

Indy and T&D told us we had to run sprayers.

The method I just shown you is what we were shown years back by a very popular small block mopar engine builder. It works great. It can only be done as per build because the stud needs to be indexed in the block when seated. So this prevented an Item that could me made and sold. No money to be made ? Why sell the idea if you'll lose money on parts you can sell.

This fix is just something inexpensive you can do when building your engine.
 
-
Back
Top