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rocker arm assembly

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my assembly showed up this afternoon. hopefully all i need to get my car fired up. hasn't run in over 15 years so this will be fun... well i hope anyway.

Not sure this is ok on the forum, so this can be cut if need be.

but i wanted to say something about Rocker Arms Unlimited. (used to be Rocker Arm Specialists i believe) they were nice guys to work with and it looks like they did a nice job. they had a little issue with some shafts they got in so my arms were not done when they said. but to help out, they sent them to me 2nd day and paid that difference. i thought that was a nice gesture. not everything is in their control. but helping out is what seperates the good companies. i hope the business works out for them.

IMG_2234.jpg

So with any luck i hope to get this car started this weekend. while waiting today i found my second leak. this was a coolant leak from the heater tap. an easy one to get to if you have to have a leak. the handle felt ok in one direction but then it would feel loose. i think someone had tried to turn it and thought maybe it was stuck so they forced it. that let the hsaft slide up in the bottom plate and let it leak. i took the valve apart and cleaned it up. no seals in it, just the tapered shaft. so i added another washer behind the spring, made sure the bottom plate was tight and i hope that will fix the issue. it sure turned a lot tighter.
 

steveg

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Good to hear about a vendor who goes the extra mile...
I've been very satisfied for almost 10 years with my 1.6 ratio aluminum rockers from the former Rocker Arm Specialists.
Note the small clearance issue I had with my oil pipe - added at least one (maybe two) extra copper washers.
Be sure to start the banjo bolt by hand with everything loose - it's easy to strip.
RockerOilPipeWashers.jpg


RockersNew.jpg
 

Bob_Spidell

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Rocker Arm Specialists overhauled the rocker on my BJ8, oh, probably 25 years and 120K miles ago. During my recent engine overhaul, the mechanic disassembled, cleaned and inspected the rocker arm, then put it back together.
 
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Rocker Arm Specialists overhauled the rocker on my BJ8, oh, probably 25 years and 120K miles ago. During my recent engine overhaul, the mechanic disassembled, cleaned and inspected the rocker arm, then put it back together.
No wear on the bushes or shaft, that's amazing?!?!

We started using hard-chrome on the shafts decades ago (to build up and resize whatever used ones we could find) so I expect that__or some alternative surface-hardening treatment__is an industry standard nowadays, but for the bushes to have also lasted that long is a surprise.

For what it's worth, if anybody does manage to strip the Banjo-Bolt's threads in the aluminum pedestal, I bought the Heli-Coil repair kit for that goofy BW thread size. I figure I can repair maybe 8-9 more, depending on how many inserts were included (10?). Oddly, I don't have a picture of the kit to properly call out the thread diameter & pitch, but I promise you, even the well-stocked machinery supply house in Toledo (better known as the industrial suburb of Detroit) had to special order the kit, so you're not going to find one at Ace Hdwr or AutoZone.

IMG_1293.jpg


IMG_1296.jpg


IMG_1299.jpg
 
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you know it has been a long time since i forgot to eat lunch....

got my assembly installed today. i was able to rotate the crank by using the alternator and pushing down on the belt at the same time. my additional cooling shroud proved to be a PIA. i ended up draining some coolant back out and removing the top radiator hose so i could get some turn on the wrench. my addition blocks any straight on approach. but i was able to muttle thru it and get the valve adjustment done. just could only turn it a little at a time.

the banjo bolt for the oil line was interesting. i was very careful after reading so many posts about stripping it. i started it by hand without the line or anything the first time to get a feel for the angle. i don't feel like the bolt is straight up but tilted a little. anyway i could run it on up rather easily by hand. but it would not pull down enough to pull the line up tight. you could screw it in to a point and then it just seemed to stop. and get very tight. i did not want to strip it so i ended up using two crush washers below the line and two above it so it would pull up tight. that worked out fine for me. not sure why it does not want to go in all the way but it wasn't happening. i think it will work fine though the way it is.
IMG_2236.jpgIMG_2235.jpg

i was reading another post here on the valve cover gasket and indeed when i went to add oil, i had oil running out the side. it was an old gasket and i had hoped to use it until i had it running since i figure i will have the valve cover off a few more times. but that was not to be. oil ran right thru it. after the cleanup.... i put on a new cork gasket. i made sure to line the outside of the gasket up with the edge of the cover. once tight it seems to be holding fine. no adhesives. i started to use some but again i am thinking i will have this cover off again soon to check valve adjustments.

most everything else went pretty well... except... i can not seem to get this thing static timed. i set my engine at 10*BTDC and went to check with a 12v light. i hooked the light to the negative side of the coil and a ground. but my light stayed on all the time. no matter how much i move the diz. not sure what is up. i came in and read the info on the internet, you tube... and i seemed to get different ways to do this. but i can't get one to work. Keep in mind i have a pertronix ignitor and have gone to negative ground. Not sure what i am doing wrong. i am going to go thru their tests for ground and voltage tomorrow. the only time i have done this is with points. if anyone has some tips here, please pass on. or i may just guess and try to fire it up tomorrow.

also i did pump the engine to get oil pressure. i tried it for a few minutes with no success so i pulled the line on the oil gauge and after a few seconds had oil coming out. then put it back together and had oil pressure in a few revolutions of the starter.

so i feel if i can get the timing how i want, i can throw some gas in it and start the darn thing up. i was certainly ready to try it today but the healey gods thought i needed a bit more of a challenge. on a good note, the heater tap did not leak today so i may have fixed it.
 

vette

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Drone Dog, I have never tried to static time with a petronic installed. that might be the issue. I have static timed many times and i never use a light. Mark the side of the dizzy where the tower is for the #1 spark plug wire then take the cap off and turn the dizzy till the rotor is just a tic before the mark you made on the side. That's close enough to run it. Then when warm time it with an old fashion timing light. Oh yeh, make sure you are on number one at the top of the compression stroke. Some recent post will give you all kinds of options to get the compression stroke.
 
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That is what I am going to do. I can get it close enough to fire. I am going to run the resistance and voltage tests first.
 
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you know it has been a long time since i forgot to eat lunch....

got my assembly installed today. i was able to rotate the crank by using the alternator and pushing down on the belt at the same time. my additional cooling shroud proved to be a PIA. i ended up draining some coolant back out and removing the top radiator hose so i could get some turn on the wrench. my addition blocks any straight on approach. but i was able to muttle thru it and get the valve adjustment done. just could only turn it a little at a time.

the banjo bolt for the oil line was interesting. i was very careful after reading so many posts about stripping it. i started it by hand without the line or anything the first time to get a feel for the angle. i don't feel like the bolt is straight up but tilted a little. anyway i could run it on up rather easily by hand. but it would not pull down enough to pull the line up tight. you could screw it in to a point and then it just seemed to stop. and get very tight. i did not want to strip it so i ended up using two crush washers below the line and two above it so it would pull up tight. that worked out fine for me. not sure why it does not want to go in all the way but it wasn't happening. i think it will work fine though the way it is.
View attachment 52548View attachment 52547

i was reading another post here on the valve cover gasket and indeed when i went to add oil, i had oil running out the side. it was an old gasket and i had hoped to use it until i had it running since i figure i will have the valve cover off a few more times. but that was not to be. oil ran right thru it. after the cleanup.... i put on a new cork gasket. i made sure to line the outside of the gasket up with the edge of the cover. once tight it seems to be holding fine. no adhesives. i started to use some but again i am thinking i will have this cover off again soon to check valve adjustments.

most everything else went pretty well... except... i can not seem to get this thing static timed. i set my engine at 10*BTDC and went to check with a 12v light. i hooked the light to the negative side of the coil and a ground. but my light stayed on all the time. no matter how much i move the diz. not sure what is up. i came in and read the info on the internet, you tube... and i seemed to get different ways to do this. but i can't get one to work. Keep in mind i have a pertronix ignitor and have gone to negative ground. Not sure what i am doing wrong. i am going to go thru their tests for ground and voltage tomorrow. the only time i have done this is with points. if anyone has some tips here, please pass on. or i may just guess and try to fire it up tomorrow.

also i did pump the engine to get oil pressure. i tried it for a few minutes with no success so i pulled the line on the oil gauge and after a few seconds had oil coming out. then put it back together and had oil pressure in a few revolutions of the starter.

so i feel if i can get the timing how i want, i can throw some gas in it and start the darn thing up. i was certainly ready to try it today but the healey gods thought i needed a bit more of a challenge. on a good note, the heater tap did not leak today so i may have fixed it.
Does the spigot on the bottom of the bolt line up correctly__and centered__with the hole in the rockershaft?

IMG_0965.jpg
 
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Oh, and for future valve adjust checks, I always found it easiest to have all (6) sparkplugs out, and with the xmsn in 4th gear, just roll the car; all twelve (12) valves can be adjusted__with the rule of 13__in about three feet (3').
 

Jerry

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Randy, I had not thought of putting in an insert when the threads go bad. Thanks for posting that. I sure wish someone made a flex line for that oil line. I have Roller rockers also from Rocker Arm Specialists and fitting that oil line was a pain.
I always take pictures of the timing chain so if there is problems later, I can look and tell myself, it is NOT the timing chain. When you only rebuild one engine a year, you wonder if you did something. Pictures help.

Jerry
 
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Randy, that could be the issue. i will pull it back out and check for the hole. maybe the shaft got rotated or was not lined up to begin with? it definitely is bottoming out.
 
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Randy, that could be the issue. i will pull it back out and check for the hole. maybe the shaft got rotated or was not lined up to begin with? it definitely is bottoming out.
You can see in the last picture I was placing that bolt before the rockershaft was seated/torqued and valves set.

Even if you backed off all the rockerarm adjusters, that shaft may still be reluctant to be clocked, allowing the bolt to seat properly.

The full function of the upper-end oiling system depends on oil flowing up through the fitting** in the head, then through the tube/Banjo-Bolt and into the center of the rockershaft. From there it feeds the rocker bushes, hollow ball-ended rocker adjusters and finally, directs a squirt of oil to lube/cool the valve-stem tips where the rocker imparts a sliding downward push.



** on engines expected to spend a greater deal of time at high RPM, I weld the fitting's hole and redrill it to a smaller area. Doing so not only prevents flooding the rocker galley, but insures the mains and rods don't get starved of oil in the process.
 
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Randy,
it was just off enough to catch the end of the bolt. i had it lined up but then i did not leave the bolt in as i put in the assembly. just missed that step in the manual. i start to get excited when i am getting close to the firing.

it is fine now and goes all the way in. so started the countdown to the first firing.... another thread.
 
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