my stroke has to go back to the shop, its thier fault

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Dakota_Don

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Well as some of you know my SB stroker broke at an early age..
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busted rocker arm adjusting screw which led to the push rod cup digging into the rocker arm sending metal into the oil the adjusting screw broke just under the lock nut ect..
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any way I am taking it back to the shop for the owner to see, After talking to him on the phone he seems to think it was faulty parts (of course) but those parts lived on a stock block .030 SB 360 with same cam springs,heads non milled or decked ect..

Here is what i think happend.
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First the engine was CnCed, decked balanced then assembled, upon assembly the assembler didnt check the Push rods for the correct length (reused the ones from the stock deck engine) and since the rods were to long he adjusted the rocker adjusting screws out to accommendate for the extra length. So now the rocker Geometry is off, the rockers now touch the valve stem off center,(not like they did before) so to correct this problem he used valve lash caps so the rockers would have a larger path to ride, so since the rocker geometry is off the adjusting studs broke under the uneven or stressed load,it may even had coil bind.

The cam is not to large for these rockers 488/491 lift according to the rocker company.

I know when I had the rockers in this engine before it was stroked there were aprox 2.5 threads showing above the rocker adjusting lock nut, now there are at least 6.5 to 7 threads showing, if i flip the rocker over the ball is resting near the bottom of the rocker, to the point it almost pertrudes into the adjusting screw hole. Even thou I used an inexpensive set of rockers I feel they are not to blame, I blame the machinist for not checking his work, now My stroker has to be flushed and torn down to get all the metal shavings out maybe even new rod and mains. When i called him a few weeks ago about the noises, he assured me it was NOT the engine ( guess he is God and makes no mistakes) When i called him about the rocker problem he said OH must be the poor quality of rocker, and the engine needs to be checked at my expence..

From looking at the adjusting screw threads, there is about an 1/8 in at least difference in the way he set them up compared to the way i had them on the stock deck with non milled heads .039 head gasket. If the correct PR was used I would think the Rocker adjuster would be in a simular spot as it was the first time 2.5 to 3 treads..I really think this is in thier (shop) error and not mine nor the part.. The shop assembled this thing from pan to intake including the valve covers, therefore they checked and assembled the valve train. Basically when i picked it up it was ready to go in.

Here are a couple of pics.

what do you think? I doubt he will take care of this problem, if he isnt willing to remedy this should I take it else where ,Heck i may do it myself..But first I want to see what they will do.

Thanks

Don
 
Sounds like you may well have a pre-load problem if the heads and deck were both milled. How much did they take off? The other possibility is they didn't get the jam nut tight on the rocker in question. All shops make mistakes from time to time. I have used all the shops in the area around here and have had things that needed corrected come out of them all. I wont run an engine someone else assembled without pulling the pan and valve covers and checking some basic clearances. If I have time I would just rather assemble it myself and measure everything as I go. In my view an inexperenced assembler who goes by the book and checks everything may well be better then a so called expert who may do this so often that they might not take the time to check everything.
 
Sorry to hear this sort of thing but i've been there and if one isn't schooled up on his ability to do it himself ( like me) he is at the mercy of these professionals. It would be nice if people would stand behind their work as i do in my business but you also have to consider that when they build a performance motor what do you think people are going to do with it when they take it away? I would expect them to warranty defective parts unless they were used or stressed beyond they're ability to performe, but the manufacturer should assume some responsiblitiy also. Hope this works out for you to your advantage.
 
If this guy doesn't stand behind his work now I wouldn't even consider using his services again.He's not competent,you'll just be buying more problem's in the future.If it were mine and couldn't get some satisfaction out of this idiot,I'd disassemble it and clean and inspect it and reassemble with what was needed.Then bad mouth this guy to anyone who'd listen.
 
IMHO there is no way that a quality adjusting screw should break like that. Bend maybe, but not break. It doesn't sound like Grade 8 forged screw, but more like grade 2 or cast screw. Is the rocker made in US?
 
opps sorry i didnt post my update.. the rockers are in the trash, I bought them back in 01-03 at monster mopar here in St Louis, I do not remember the brand as they were open and unused for display, bought them at a vender that had them out for comparison with another brand..
anyway we talked he said he has them on his 13 sec duster ect.. blah blah blah.. anyway the adjuster were over tightend and were most likely junk on top of that.. I am using stock rockers at the moment, the engine seems to be fine NO DAMAGE thank god.. so instead of buying new rockers i bought a MSD E-curve dist..

When i do buy new rockers i want AMERICAN made and if posible id like to use 1.6.
 
redfastback said:
The Comp cams magnums are awesome. I think they are ductile iron..
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I would have to agree 100%

I just installed a set and these rockers and just the feel of them says a lot! Can't really explain it but yeah ... it feels like ductile iron.
 
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