I'm thinking it may be something else - not the rockers. If the majority of the rockers show the effects of side-loading on the roller tip - that's a symptom of a problem. the rocker is the point of failure - but it's not the reason for the failure.
Were the heads professionally done or something else?
This is my concern as well, that there's a larger problem that's causing this and not just a rocker problem. The heads were done by a professional machinist, but were done on the side as his current job was not doing heads. He put in the larger 2.02/1.60 valves, rebuilt the heads, ported the heads, and bench flowed them for me. He has a pretty long history of working with Mopar heads and a good track record, which is why I trusted his judgement.
another thing to check is to make sure all the valves guides are in line ,a little off will change your rocker contact point on the tip ,maybe why some of the springs rubbed the rockers, and others didn"t I have seen the stands cast off a little and the stock rockers work ok because of the larger contact point .1 or 2 guides could be off a little and the rest straight if guides were replaced
None of the springs hit the rockers before the lash cap left, that wasn't an issue.
72blu - Ive been watching what your going thru, as I was considering running lash caps on a hydraulic cam.
Some folks say to only use lash caps on solid lifter cams because if a "weak" lifter bleeds down overnite, then when the engine is started the lash cap can come off before oil pressure forces the lifter piston to the top of its travel. I did an experiment on the 432 I'm building now....I bled a lifter down by hand and with the lifter piston at the bottom of its travel there was more than enough clearance to remove the lash cap.
I have had new out of the box name brand hyd lifters that bled down so fast you almost could not find 'zero' lash to set the lifter preload. The point I'm trying to make is a "weak" lifter could be part of your engine problem.
After your experience I am not going to run lash caps on a hyd cam.
I can see all your photos...looking at your rocker arm contact on the valve stems....yes the contact pattern starts near the valve stem centerline and travels toward the exhaust side of the stem....but Smokey Yunick in his book "Power Secrets" would say the contact pattern is fine without the lashcaps. He said the pattern does not have to be perfectly centered, and the pattern is acceptable as long as the pattern stays .02 inch away from the edge of the valve stem...which yours does without the lash caps.
The wear on the rocker arm bodies looks as you suggest...the roller tip shaft is flexing.
For my 432 I bought a set of the Crane iron rocker arms that you mentioned...the ratio came out more than the spec and they are said to be "bullet proof".
Interesting. I was never big on the idea of the lash caps, but I can see how that could be an issue with the hydraulic valves. I don't think I'll be using the lash caps again, as I don't think I need them at all with the iron rockers.
Is the spring to weak and lofting or bouncing, cause undo stress on the valve train?
You do have a cam with a vary fast ramp..................
^^ This.
You have the wrong springs for that camshaft. You do not use lift to determine if the springs are strong enough. You use the cam manufacturers requirements for installed height and spring rate, and match up what you want to use to those specifications. The MP springs are way light for a VooDoo type lobe, even a short one. Your head guy should have known that. Given the geometry issues and this, I'd have a better shop look at them. There's probably other stuff amiss there.
I know the seat pressure was within spec, I don't know how the rest of it matched up. My builder had used them before, but I know the lunati has a faster ramp than the MP cam the springs were intended for. I can't rule it out as a possibly issue.
Should I even bother checking the spring pressures now? Or just change the springs? I know that Lunati only specs double springs, so if I went that route I'd have to pull the heads and have them cut for doubles because they aren't now.
I didn't experience any obvious valve float driving the car.
Why do they make locks with a lash cap recess?
This isn't really helpful. I measured the caps, I obviously didn't allow enough clearance on a couple of them. I know they make locks with clearance, and I could have shaved the caps if I thought it would be a problem. Obviously that's something I should have done, but I didn't have any experience running lash caps and I got the clearance wrong on a couple of the caps. But I don't think the caps are the cause of any of these issues. The lost cap is a symptom of the broken rocker, or maybe what caused the rocker problem, or maybe even the hydraulic lifters. They're a problem no doubt, but not the one I'm chasing.
It's also moot, since I already said the caps would get shaved down if in fact they go back on the engine, which they likely won't.
The big issue is that I have too many variables to point to a single cause.
