Well I had a rocker arm snap off the stud the other day on my 72 Chevelle 454 (bored to 468). It snapped off the exhaust valve rocker arm and the intake push rod was bent all to hell. Would I be safe just replacing just the parts that failed or am I looking at a deeper problem internally:confused: . The motor has the original heads and carb intake. Should I just buy a top end kit from lets say Edelbrock (alum. heads, intake, carb, timimg chain, etc) and be done with it?

I don't want to screw up this motor and would like for it to be done right..

Thanks
Todd

You need to look closely at the pushrod alignment. Maybe it has been binding in the hole in the head or binding on something else? You may need to adjust the guideplate.
Are you sure your springs are set up for the cam?
Almost sounds like you have a coilbind issue.
Or guide to retainer clearance problem???

also check that particular lifter to make sure it's not stuck or collapsed.

what Nate said. exhaust pushrod show any signs of binding in the guideplate? rocker studs loose allowinig the plate to slide around? inspect your parts carefully, see if you can see any evidence of grinding/rubbing, whatever.

any other recent changes to the engine?

onr the other hand, if you really need all that nice new aluminum stuff:

the Eddy Roval port heads are cool, better than a big rectangular port setup for most reasonable street cars. Double check carefully to see that any particular aftermarket head will work with your pistons. what is the casting number on the heads you have now? Open chamber or closed?

The Eddy cams are not well thought of, look at a Isky, Crower, Crane, Bullet, Lunati Voodoo series, UD.

Todd,were you just crusing when the rocker stud broke & pushrod bent or were you on it hard and possibly over reved it floating a valve? Or maybe a valve spring went bad or broke allowing that exhaust valve to kiss a piston causing the problem.

Maybe there are rocker to stud clearance issues ,i believe stock rockers can only handle up to .500 lift so it could be that depending on the cam your running. If thats the case you should be able to see other exhaust rockers hitting the studs showing wear/clearance issues. Maybe your cam has under .500 lift on int & over .500 lift on the ex side that will cause the problem only on the ex rockers in that case.

But breaking a rocker studs & bending a pushrod shows some kind of mechanical clearance issue somewhere in the valvetrain or maybe even piston to valve and i would get to the bottom of it rather then just replace the parts and forget about it if it seems to run ok after that.

Scott

Well I was only going about 25-30 mph when everything happened:confused: That is why it has me really confused.. But as much as I hate to do it I am going to completely go through the engine just to be safe. I just purchased the car so I really want to make sure everything is up to snuff with the parts that "whomever" rebuilt the motor used. Thanks again for ya'lls on going help with everything!!!! It is appreciated!!! I will keep you guys updated on the progress!!