Are roller rockers worth the $$$

I'm in the process of rebuilding my Spitfire 1500 engine after my son sort of blew it up (bent to push rods). I am installing a new cam with a higher lift and special springs that come with it. I am wondering if investing in a roller rocker assembly would be worth the $$$ ? Has anyone had experience with these? I'm sure there is some benefit, but if I'm not really racing the car, would it be worth doing anyway? They cost about $600.

Basil

To tell you the truth Basil I have never had roller rockers but I do understand the basic operation of them. Basicly they reduce friction increacing the life of the parts they come in contact with. How much longer I don't know. To tell you the truth I wouldn't bother with them unless I were going to race it or drive it hard all the time. Otherwise the stock rocker assembly should serve you well. That's just my opinion though.

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Jamie
1962 Austin Healey Sprite MK II
1979 Trans Am W/403 Olds BB
Welcome to my british car site.

Yeah, that's sort of my initial inclination. They do seem a might expensive, which I could see doing IF there would be a significant increase in performance (that I would notice without racing). I don';t really drive my cars that hard, so maybe this would not be money well spent.

Basil,
As I understand it, when you add a high lift cam, I believe the Kent is such an animal, the valve guides start to wear because the rockers start to push on the side of the valve stem instead of the top. Adding the roller rockers, I believe, will add the to the height and duration of the lift. It is probably OK when you're racing and rebuilding after a few races. Just a thought... Trevor

Basil,

I am very familiar with the late model LT1 V8's from Chevrolet. These are worlds away from the engines on Triumphs but you asked about roller rockers, so I'll tell you what I know.

In my experience, adding a set of roller rockers to an engine will greatly reduce friction. Conventionally there is friction between the pushrod and the rocker, with the roller rocker there is a 'wheel' instead, thus reducing that friction. In the V8's that I have driven with roller rockers there seems to be better throttle response. In addition it seem the engine is quicker at 'winding up' than with conventional rockers.

I do not know if the same applies to a inline four in a Spitfire. I have never driven one equipped with RR's. I have seen the prices on these, they are indeed high.

My .02 worth...

[This message has been edited by Z28Quetzal (edited 10-26-2001).]

Hello I'm kurt
I have rolling rockers installed on my spit6 for several years and I am very happy to say that
they are worth the money . They deliver more oil to the lifters and cam and it is a known problem with triumphs so the engine is both cooler and quieter.
I must say that the installation was not as straight forward as described I hat to take off some of the metal on the spacers to have the rockers fit and move freely I did this with a combination of flat files sand paper to finish off the edges, so beware

spit6 guy