On a small block, I heard if you put 1.6 rockers on the intake side only, you'll get better performance than if you put them on both sides. More dur. & lift on intake side = more power, or something like that. I overheard this at a recent carshow and was wondering if this is true.

theres no pat answer...some engines will respond best with intake only..some on exhaust...and most will on both...it depends on many things..head flow and exhaust system comes to mind

Dave,

If you only have 1/2 set(8) 1.6 rockers, by all means, put them on the intake. It picks up the power almost entirely across the RPM range. However, if you put them on the exhaust instead, it cuts into your bottom-end power, and only helps up around peak power.
If you have a full set of 1.6 rockers, most engines show an overall net gain in power. Although the 1.6 exhaust rockers hurts a small bit on the bottom-end, the 1.6s on the intake help from about 4000 on up, and then of course the 1.6s on exhaust help right around peak power.
So it's either 1.5/1.5, 1.6/1.5, or 1.6/1.6. These all work, and the 1.6s move the power band upward.

UDHarold