Who knows factory cylinder heads ?

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pearljam724

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I have a 72 - 360 that is fairly stock with exception of intake, carb and unknown bigger cam. Today, I checked to see if I have adjustable rockers. I also wanted to see how tight or loose my lift rods and rockers were. I haven’t the slightest issue with the engine. No chatter and runs great. I just wanted to look at them. They are matching number 72/360 original heads.
I have no clue if it has sold or hydraulic lifters. But, I believe they are solid based on the rockers or rods won’t budge the smallest amount when pushing either downward, on all 8 I checked.
My understanding is my rockers are not adjustable as there is no adjusting nut on them. I have 3 out of 8 rods or rockers on the passenger side. That have the smallest amount of play and the rods spin very easily. One rod has a considerable amount of up and down play of those 3 that spin easily. Where the other 5 are tight as can be. If these are non adjustable why would this be the case ? And if I do infact have solid lifters can you add adjustable rockers to the stock arm to make them adjustable ?
 
If you are running stamped steel rocker arms without any kind of adjustment screw in the pushrod or The Rocker you do not have a solid lifter cam.

Post a picture of your rocker arms.
 
Jadaharabi said:
If you are running stamped steel rocker arms without any kind of adjustment screw in the pushrod or The Rocker you do not have a solid lifter cam.

Post a picture of your rocker arms.
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I glad you you jumped in on this one. I had no idea where to start.
 
The hydraulic lifters cant be pushed down via the pushrod because they are locked full of oil. If you have any looseness, then likely the cam and lifters have worn and are junk.
Jim
 
pearljam724 said:
I haven’t the slightest issue with the engine. No chatter and runs great. I just wanted to look at them. They are matching number 72/360 original heads.
I have no clue if it has sold or hydraulic lifters. But, I believe they are solid based on the rockers or rods won’t budge the smallest amount when pushing either downward, on all 8 I checked.
My understanding is my rockers are not adjustable as there is no adjusting nut on them. I have 3 out of 8 rods or rockers on the passenger side. That have the smallest amount of play and the rods spin very easily. One rod has a considerable amount of up and down play of those 3 that spin easily. Where the other 5 are tight as can be. If these are non adjustable why would this be the case ? And if I do infact have solid lifters can you add adjustable rockers to the stock arm to make them adjustable ?
Click to expand...
pearljam724 said:
I have a 72 - 360 that is fairly stock with exception of intake, carb and unknown bigger cam. Today, I checked to see if I have adjustable rockers. I also wanted to see how tight or loose my lift rods and rockers were. I haven’t the slightest issue with the engine. No chatter and runs great. I just wanted to look at them. They are matching number 72/360 original heads.
I have no clue if it has sold or hydraulic lifters. But, I believe they are solid based on the rockers or rods won’t budge the smallest amount when pushing either downward, on all 8 I checked.
My understanding is my rockers are not adjustable as there is no adjusting nut on them. I have 3 out of 8 rods or rockers on the passenger side. That have the smallest amount of play and the rods spin very easily. One rod has a considerable amount of up and down play of those 3 that spin easily. Where the other 5 are tight as can be. If these are non adjustable why would this be the case ? And if I do infact have solid lifters can you add adjustable rockers to the stock arm to make them adjustable ?
Click to expand...
Yes you can add adjustable rockers to hydraulic lifters. You MUST have adjustable rockers for solid lifters. Are you sure you have "up and down" play. You do realize each pushrod has to be checked when the lifter is on the base of the cam well into the compression stroke. Lifters that are in the lift position will be tight as in "you can not spin the push rod" others on the compression stroke can be spun as they are on the compression stroke and the valves are closed. If the engine runs good and nothing is "clacking" dont sweat it.
 
Bodyperson said:
Yes you can add adjustable rockers to hydraulic lifters. You MUST have adjustable rockers for solid lifters. Are you sure you have "up and down" play. You do realize each pushrod has to be checked when the lifter is on the base of the cam well into the compression stroke. Lifters that are in the lift position will be tight as in "you can not spin the push rod" others on the compression stroke can be spun as they are on the compression stroke and the valves are closed. If the engine runs good and nothing is "clacking" dont sweat it.
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I understand this. The thing is. 2 of the 3 rods spinning are on the same cylinder ? Yes, 1 of the 3 has enough slop that it doesn’t touch the rocker if I move it up and down. Roughly, 2 millimeters. The other 2 that spin have no gap between the rocker or lifters. So, those other 2 are slightly loose, but ok. What’s a good set of adjustable rockers to be added to a stock rocker arm ? I understand, that hydraulic lifters are not likely to move due to oil compression inside them. Having said that though, 1 of the 8 should barely move enough if I press down hard enough, to verify they are hydraulic. I’m thinking. Because it’s very common for hydraulic lifters to leak down. At least 1 of them. I never looked at driver side cylinders.
 
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RealWing said:
The hydraulic lifters cant be pushed down via the pushrod because they are locked full of oil. If you have any looseness, then likely the cam and lifters have worn and are junk.
Jim
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Thank you, that was my thinking also. However, I had the intake off last summer and I inspected the cam lobes and there was zero visible wear on any lobes. I removed 1 lifter to inspect wear on bottom. No wear. I can’t quite recall, but I think I remember it being a solid lifter. Not, sure of that memory though. Shouldn’t all 72 - 360’s have the same lifters or rocker arms ? What’s the side effects of a worn cam, valves not opening far enough, but what side effects does that cause ? Like I said, I looked at cam with intake off last summer. Zero, cam wear or grooves that I could see. Nice and smooth.
 
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you have to measure them at a specific point in the cam cycle to determine if they are failing. All cams have an overlap that will compress both intake and exhaust lifter at the same time. At ignition timing, both valves are closed for that cylinder. Good time to check lash (or lack of) on a hydro lifter. All of them have a small amount of preload on them so you should not be able to rattle the pushrod on any of them. Who knows hat has happened ion that motor in the past 48 years! No solid lifter will use a stamped non adjustable rocker. Wear pattern on a lifter may not be visible but it can be seen if you take the lifter face and put it against another lifter face. It should be convex, and be able to rock on the other lifter. If it is completely flat or even concave (dished) then it is worn out. I've seen lots of concave solid lifters in slants and they still run fine. Most have adjustable rockers than mask this lifter condition.
 
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pearljam724 said:
Thank you, that was my thinking also. However, I had the intake off last summer and I inspected the cam lobes and there was zero visible wear on any lobes. I removed 1 lifter to inspect wear on bottom. No wear. I can’t quite recall, but I think I remember it being a solid lifter. Not, sure of that memory though. Shouldn’t all 72 - 360’s have the same lifters or rocker arms ? What’s the side effects of a worn cam, less cylinder compression ? Like I said, I looked at cam with intake off last summer. Zero, cam love wear or grooves that I could see. Nice and smooth.
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If it is original, yes they will be the same.
 
If you take the intake off again and measure the lift of each lifter off the edge of the lifter, you can get accurate comparisons..without measuring the hydraulic portion of the lifter compressing against the valve springs.
 
There could be so many variables going on here I. It is highly unlikely you have solid lifters with
pearljam724 said:
I haven’t the slightest issue with the engine. No chatter and runs great. I just wanted to look at them.
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SGBARRACUDA said:
Reread post 2 and 4. If you have stamped steel, non adjustable rocker arms. It is NOT a solid lifter.
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Thank you. When you say stamped steel. Do you mean numbers stamped into them ? Or just stamped as in produced ? They are definitely steel and definitely no adjustment bolt or nut on rocker. There were definitely part numbers stamped into them. I was going to take a picture. But, I forgot. I’m not near the car now.
 
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pishta said:
If you take the intake off again and measure the lift of each lifter off the edge of the lifter, you can get accurate comparisons..without measuring the hydraulic portion of the lifter compressing against the valve springs.
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Thank you, but that’s not happening. Lol! It’s a lot of work to remove and replace an intake. Never realized how time consuming it is, until I did it for the first time last year.
 
pishta said:
you have to measure them at a specific point in the cam cycle to determine if they are failing. All cams have an overlap that will compress both intake and exhaust lifter at the same time. At ignition timing, both valves are closed for that cylinder. Good time to check lash (or lack of) on a hydro lifter. All of them have a small amount of preload on them so you should not be able to rattle the pushrod on any of them. Who knows hat has happened ion that motor in the past 48 years! No solid lifter will use a stamped non adjustable rocker. Wear pattern on a lifter may not be visible but it can be seen if you take the lifter face and put it against another lifter face. It should be convex, and be able to rock on the other lifter. If it is completely flat or even concave (dished) then it is worn out. I've seen lots of concave solid lifters in slants and they still run fine. Most have adjustable rockers than mask this lifter condition.
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That’s what i’m not understanding. If they are hydraulic like you guys say. Which I don’t question you guys are right. There shouldn’t be any play and should be under preload if they are hydraulic regardless of cam position. And if a bad lifter or 2 is causing play, you would hear chatter. There is zero chatter at idle. I listen to this engine closely a lot.
 
pearljam724 said:
Thank you. When you say stamped steel. Do you mean numbers stamped into them ? If so, there were definitely numbers stamped into them. I was going to take a picture. But, I forgot. I’m not near the car now.
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You said your engine runs fine? Don't look for something to fix that doesn't need fixing. Saying that your Cam and things are junk is ridiculous.. old and not at its optimum performance very very possible..
I'll give you a picture here of a way to check your base circle. It's for adjusting adjustable rockers and gettingthe cam on the base circle where the rocker should be completely loose. Stamped steel is the term for non adjustable rockers. The rockers are just stamped out of steel..
proxy.jpeg
 
j par said:
You said your engine runs fine? Don't look for something to fix that doesn't need fixing. Saying that your Cam and things are junk is ridiculous.. old and not at its optimum performance very very possible..
I'll give you a picture here of a way to check your base circle. It's for adjusting adjustable rockers and gettingthe cam on the base circle where the rocker should be completely loose. Stamped steel is the term for non adjustable rockers. The rockers are just stamped out of steel..
View attachment 1715530490
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Thank you my friend. I wasn’t necessarily going to fix anything. But, maintenance is checking conditions. Regardless, I want adjustable rockers. What’s a good affordable set to be added to stock rocker arm ? If they are too expensive, I ll let it go for now. Until perhaps valve train noises increase one day.
 
pearljam724 said:
Thank you my friend. I wasn’t necessarily going to fix anything. But, maintenance is checking conditions. Regardless, I want adjustable rockers. What’s a good affordable set to be added to stock rocker arm ? If they are too expensive, I ll let it go for now. Until perhaps valve train noises increase one day.
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Anyway you cut it it's a slippery slope..
My first suggestion is to let it go for now...
Your cheapest alternative is to probably find some Factory 273 adjustable rockers.. you could possibly get some for around $150. Then of course the adjusters start getting loose after years and you have to buy the $75 comp aftermarket adjusters.. then of course you have to buy the correct size pushrods and the correct kind...
Now if you have adjustable rockers why aren't you running solid lifters and getting the performance you should with a solid lifter cam? LOL now that you have this high-performance stuff why don't you have headers and a 4-barrel? LOL
Is it time to build a 408 stroker yet? LOL
Welcome to the slope, it's slippery...
 
As said b4. If it runs fine with no noises or other issues don’t look for something that Isnt there. No u shouldn’t be able to lift the p/r up and down 2 mils. Kim
 
Look for 273 adjustables. usually 100-150 here. Then youll need pushrods too.
these are stamped
2-5.jpg

these are 273 adjustables.
001.jpg
 
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