ProComp, I know, but I bought these before the polls were out. These are on a fresh 12.5 to 1 468, 990 heads .612 in .630 ex. 255*in. 263* ex.@.050 valves gapped .030 using TrickFlow three eigths pushrods. I broke this engine in Wednesday night with only the outer springs, all seemed well. Thursday night I pulled the valve covers and noticed lots of fine metal laying in the top of the head. I then pulled the stud girdle and started pulling rockers. The pushrods still look like new but "all" the rockers where the pushrod sits were chattered looking. The holes in the rockers were also not round anymore but chipped out. I pulled a pushrod out and checked its fitment in an old Cranes cam rocker I had and it fit snug, in the ProComp it had just a little room to move from side to side.

Tommorow I'm going to the local speed shop and buy some Harland Sharps. Is there anything else I should check before assuming the fault is with the rockers? I did pre-oil the engine and they were all getting oil. Do all roller rockers have the same "cup size" and do all pushrods have the same size tips? It crossed my mind that these could have been for a Ford, not sure what diameter pushrods they run.

Did you visually check on the install by rotating the motor with the rockers adjusted to see that their is no bind anywhere? Did you check the rockers geometry to make sure the rollers are centered in the top of the valve stem during full travel? If they are .030 lash set at cold or hot? Sounds a bit loose to me. Do these checks and post back.

RandyB..

Just a thought here...
You mentioned using a 3/8" pushrods. Could it be possible your heads have 7/16" guideplates? If so, there would be excessive side to side play in pushrod motion and would be rough on the rockers.
Like I said...just a thought...

31 chevy, yes all clearances were checked and theres no signs the rocker arms touched or binded against anything. Geometry of rockers was set up correctly. The cam 402A6LUN calls for .030, I set this cold and re-checked after stud girdle was tightened.

Bill they were changed to 3/8s when I bought the pushrods.

All the rockers looked like they were damaged some, it's hard for me to believe that they all failed that quickly unless they were for another application.

Ok,I have the Harland Sharps now and the pushrods feel snug in them, no movement from side to side. My question now concerns the pushrods, the part# is TFS-21429500-8 "ball ends". The pushrods I have are cup ends, definitely not ball ends. Do I need ball ends or should these be fine, thanks

Whoa, timeout. Are you saying the ends of the pushrods are cup shaped? If so, you completely have the wrong pushrods which would explain why they chewed up the first set of rockers.

The pushrods should have a ball end which fits into a cup in the rocker arm.

Sounds like a mis-match on the pushrods, need the ball end type. Cup ends are for Mopars! Also, rockers need to be lubed up with oil in the rollers and bearings prior to installing on the head. It takes a while for the rockers to get fully oiled and you don't want premature wear. :cool:

Well that's a new one for the books. I'll have to keep this in mind for next what the f@#$.
Glad it's figured out before the engine was toast.
Being a mechanic for the past 19 yrs where I work in the plastics industry it's really paid off for me to get the fine details from the operators on their machine breakdowns to better assess what the true problem is, and I try my best not to ASSUME it's what they think it is and visually see for myself. I guess I assumed again without being able to see with my own eyes what his true problem was. This is why it is so imperitive to give the most detailed info on problems to better troubleshoot. I'm not bashing on ya provell ss I just ASSUMED you had the correct parts to begin with.
Good luck now that it's corrected.

RandyB..

I guess I need educated as to what a ball tip and a cup tip look like. I thought a ball tip looked like a ball at the tip of a pushrod, a cup tip looked like a half ball at the tip. The pushrods I have tapper down at the ends and then round off into a half ball. Called Summitt and they verified this was the correct pushrod for a BBC and I describe it them just as I have here, so they should be correct. I measured the tip and it measures the same as a old two piece pushrod I had laying around.

I guess I need educated as to what a ball tip and a cup tip look like. I thought a ball tip looked like a ball at the tip of a pushrod, a cup tip looked like a half ball at the tip. The pushrods I have tapper down at the ends and then round off into a half ball. Called Summitt and they verified this was the correct pushrod for a BBC and I describe it them just as I have here, so they should be correct. I measured the tip and it measures the same as a old two piece pushrod I had laying around.
no one mentioned it yet, but i would be a little concerned about all the "metal shrapnel" laying around in the top of the heads too. how much of that found it's way into the oil pan and other places in between?

Is there anyway you can post some pics. And did you oil the rockers and all real good on the install. I know what a pain this can be but we'll get it figured out. Also get a small magnet and get those shavings out of the heads.

RandyB..

Provelle, there is something you really need to look at. The trick flow number you gave (TFS21429500-8) is no such thing. ALL trick flow 3/8 push rod numbers start with TFS2141. Even th2 5/16 do not start with that number. Now the closest number to your number is TFS-21419500-8 which is 9.5 inches long. Stock BB chevy exh. pushrod is 9.25, intake is 8.25. If your using those push rods there too long..Not that your set up takes stock length but TFS2141925-8 is number for stock exh, and TFS21418250-8 is stock int. these are 3/8. Check your stuff before you go any farther..and they all have rounded tips as do stock. and yes the trick flows do taper a touch at each end, I run them also in my 468....with no prob...

31chevy, white grease was used on rockers and pushrods plus the engine was primed and all rockers were getting oil. I'll try to post pictures later tonight.

Hi-Po, you are correct and that was a typo. Correct number is TFS 21419500-8. This length keeps the roller over the lash caps as centered as I think possible throughout the valve movement.

I''ll describe the wear on the pushrods as best I can. The tip that pushes the rocker is only wearing around the hole, shiny around the hole only. The tip that sets on the lifter is wearing just above the hole and has a wider pattern which makes me think it's fitting better. My first thought is the cup in the rocker is to big for these pushrods because of the way the pushrods are wearing. Secondly I realize .030 lash is alot and maybe these cheap rockers aren't liking it.

31chevy, white grease was used on rockers and pushrods plus the engine was primed and all rockers were getting oil. I'll try to post pictures later tonight.

Hi-Po, you are correct and that was a typo. Correct number is TFS 21419500-8. This length keeps the roller over the lash caps as centered as I think possible throughout the valve movement.

I''ll describe the wear on the pushrods as best I can. The tip that pushes the rocker is only wearing around the hole, shiny around the hole only. The tip that sets on the lifter is wearing just above the hole and has a wider pattern which makes me think it's fitting better. My first thought is the cup in the rocker is to big for these pushrods because of the way the pushrods are wearing. Secondly I realize .030 lash is alot and maybe these cheap rockers aren't liking it.
Sounds like your on the right track !!!

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/854/1001600ma1219998000022ea.th.jpg (http://img63.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001600ma1219998000022ea.jpg)

All the rockers look similar to these, this after only 25 minutes run in time. I'm not totally sure of the brand but have seen these called ProComps and Pro Series. I've got the valve train back together with Harland Sharps and will run it Tuesday night. I'll pull the valve covers and re-checked everything then we should know for sure what caused the problem.

Just a quick update, I ran the engine tonight with the new rockers and the problem is solved. Inner springs were on and we ran it pretty hard for 20 minutes. We pulled the valve cover and there was no metal, then pulled several rockers and they still look new, pushrods had a good even wear pattern on them also. Lesson learned, don't buy cheap parts.