rocker arm misfit

[cerberusaardvark]

i bought my set of twelve rocker arms from sealed power and one of them has a piece that doesnt sit flush and wont swing freely past the rocker arm mounting brace.

its a flat ground bottom and its literally one millimeter too thick.

can i just sand/ grind it down a bit and stick it back on?

i hope i dont have to go through the return and exchange process bc time is a factor.

 

[Anime]

If the bottom tab on the outside of the rocker arm is too thick or funny shaped so it interferes, you can just grind it down slightly to make it work. It's a good idea to smooth out the surface to match the other rockers, or at the very least you want to clean, clean, clean that rocker so there are no metal flakes or loose particles left from the grinding. Soaking it/wiping it down with new oil several times in addition to cleaning isn't a bad idea, either.

If the thickness issue is in the hole, the surface where the rocker arm shaft goes, that would need to either be redone by a machine shop, or you're probably better off just getting a new one. Whatever place you bought them from should be able to either send you out a new one at no cost, while providing a free return shipping label for the defective part, or they will typically let you buy a new one and refund the price when they receive the defective part.

 

[jd4242]

Need a picture or better description. ..worse case order a new one and send that one back, not worth sanding or grinding it..

 

[FR-425]

Yep, If time is the factor just get one locally and deal with the refund later.

 

[jd4242]

Advance auto has them in stock or can get them next day and if you order online you can use a coupon

 

[cerberusaardvark]

Yea I went to auto zone and I can. U melting brand rocker arms for 15 each. Times a factor and I was hoping to not mix and match brands. I'm going to try grinding it down first.

For clarification it's on the bottom of the rocker arm. On the bottom there is a flat ground plane and on this one in particular, it's too thick to swing past the rocker arm mount.

I'll try to keep it flat but I was hoping to hear that these things aren't like machine balanced and taking a teeny bit off the bottom wouldn't cause it to go wild.

 

[jd4242]

Yea I went to auto zone and I can. U melting brand rocker arms for 15 each. Times a factor and I was hoping to not mix and match brands. I'm going to try grinding it down first.

For clarification it's on the bottom of the rocker arm. On the bottom there is a flat ground plane and on this one in particular, it's too thick to swing past the rocker arm mount.

I'll try to keep it flat but I was hoping to hear that these things aren't like machine balanced and taking a teeny bit off the bottom wouldn't cause it to go wild.

What do you mean ""swing past the rocker arm mount""? I don't understand this at all..the ""flat ground"" part sits on the valve tip, so don't see what you are saying swing past..

Advance caries sealed power..

If the bottom tab on the outside of the rocker arm is too thick or funny shaped so it interferes, you can just grind it down slightly to make it work. It's a good idea to smooth out the surface to match the other rockers, or at the very least you

want to clean, clean, clean that rocker so there are no metal flakes or loose particles left from the grinding. Soaking it/wiping it down with new oil several times in addition to cleaning isn't a bad idea, either.

If the thickness issue is in the hole, the surface where the rocker arm shaft goes, that would need to either be redone by a machine shop, or you're probably better off just getting a new one. Whatever place you bought them from should be able to either send you out a new one at no cost, while providing a free return shipping label for the defective part, or they will typically let you buy a new one and refund the price when they receive the defective part.

Grinding or sanding anything on a rocker is NOT a good idea. They are treated, heat from grinding or sanding can weaken the rocker and cause it to fail.also you need to know the lifter plunger spec or else you can remove to much even if you treat it afterwards.you can also change the ratio of it ..this is one of the problems the delta rockers have"" I feel"", ask me how I know!!

 

[Anime]

Yea I went to auto zone and I can. U melting brand rocker arms for 15 each. Times a factor and I was hoping to not mix and match brands. I'm going to try grinding it down first.

For clarification it's on the bottom of the rocker arm. On the bottom there is a flat ground plane and on this one in particular, it's too thick to swing past the rocker arm mount.

I'll try to keep it flat but I was hoping to hear that these things aren't like machine balanced and taking a teeny bit off the bottom wouldn't cause it to go wild.

What do you mean ""swing past the rocker arm mount""? I don't understand this at all..the ""flat ground"" part sits on the valve tip, so don't see what you are saying swing past..

Advance caries sealed power..

Grinding or sanding anything on a rocker is NOT a good idea. They are treated, heat from grinding or sanding can weaken the rocker and cause it to fail.also you need to know the lifter plunger spec or else you can remove to much even if you treat it afterwards.you can also change the ratio of it ..this is one of the problems the delta rockers have"" I feel"", ask me how I know!!

He's talking about the extra metal stub on the bottom of the rocker, not the machined surface that contacts the valve or the hole where the pushrod goes.

The "good" rockers are cast such that they all are about the same - those bottom stubs are rectangular and have rounded edges.

Sealed Power and some others (including Melling) have a poor finish and the rockers don't even all weigh the same.

I had a set of Melling rockers I was going to use, but sold 'em in favor of using the OEM Ford rocker arm assemblies. The rocker arms on those aren't perfect either, but they're close.

Sure, it's better not to grind anything at all, but apparently guys with muscle cars have been grinding off the imperfections on the aftermarket cheap rockers for a while, and there are no issues if you clean them up.

If you just grind a tiny bit off to match the other rockers, I think it's fine, but if you're worried about it at all, either exchange it however you need to, or get a new one of the same brand. The cost of one rocker isn't worth damage to the engine or even just the head.

 

[FR-425]

Move it to a different valve.

Get it away from this:

Or work this down instead.

Some of the valves are position specific and have had extra material already removed to clear the mount.

 

[cerberusaardvark]

so instead of grinding the arm down i ended up going to autozone and getting one melling rocker arm. upon closer insepction of the rocker arms i noticed that while the metal to metal contact surfaces, ie ra to pushrod and ra to valve are pretty much the same, the bottom of all of the rockers are differently sized. on some the bottoms are way up of the mount, on others there is barely any gap.

from all the forums on rebuilding ive read on here either sealed power or melling seems to have been the choice but i dont like that they are all so obviously non identical. while these rocker arms are going to perform better than the old worn ones im taking out, would have to disrecommend these as a stock replacement ra brand.

 

[Anime]

so instead of grinding the arm down i ended up going to autozone and getting one melling rocker arm. upon closer insepction of the rocker arms i noticed that while the metal to metal contact surfaces, ie ra to pushrod and ra to valve are pretty much the same, the bottom of all of the rockers are differently sized. on some the bottoms are way up of the mount, on others there is barely any gap.

from all the forums on rebuilding ive read on here either sealed power or melling seems to have been the choice but i dont like that they are all so obviously non identical. while these rocker arms are going to perform better than the old worn ones im taking out, would have to disrecommend these as a stock replacement ra brand.

I would guess that Sealed Power no longer has these parts, or other Explorer parts, made just for them, and it seems (even going by part numbers) that the rockers, lifters, etc. they sell are now just the same parts sold by the cheaper brands.

If you want the good stuff, get the Made-in-Germany rocker arm assemblies from one of our forum vendors that is a Ford Dealership.

The same lack of quality made me nervous about using the Melling rockers, so I decided against using them in favor of the OE Ford assemblies. I'm sure the Melling and Sealed Power are "okay" for general use, but I figure it's worth paying the price for the best stock replacement available.