Anyone use the Jesel Sportsman Series Shaft Rockers yet? They told me they are good to 300 lb seat 800 lb open springs. Was considering them for my Street/Strip BB that will have a solid roller around .650 lift and 200 lb seat 550 lb open springs. Would expect them to last a long time.

Doug, I have no first hand experience with the Jesel rockers. I DO have a set of Yella Terra shaft rockers on my 422sb and I have to say they are a quality product and lash adjustments are much easier/faster than the old girdle/rocker/stud setup. Not trying to sway you to one brand or the other, just throwing out another option. The YT's cost around ~$625.

BTW, my springs set up at 250/650lbs.

I've got a set for my 496 but haven't fired the engine yet. I didn't realize until after I bought mine (new set from a guy wanting to run different heads) that different heads require different stands. Mine are for OEM cast iron heads and I don't believe they will work for any aftermarket head. The stands by themselves cost just as much as a full set with the rockers, etc. Don't know why they do that - I was hoping I could just buy stands reasonably if I wanted to go aluminum heads but that apparently isn't the case. So be sure you get the ones for your app especially if you buy them from an individual. I believe the rockers and stands are marked so you can verify what heads they fit.

Originally posted by Doug F.:
Anyone use the Jesel Sportsman Series Shaft Rockers yet? They told me they are good to 300 lb seat 800 lb open springs. Was considering them for my Street/Strip BB that will have a solid roller around .650 lift and 200 lb seat 550 lb open springs. Would expect them to last a long time. I ran them on my ProCharged 540. Fair amount of spring pressure and no problems. There is one thing I don't like about them; the cheesy clips that link two rocker stands together. They're there I assume to keep the rockers stands properly aligned (preventing twisting) over the valve stem. Problem is there's enough wiggle-room in them (actually a lot) that if you aren't careful the rocker geometry can be way off. It was a bit of a pain getting the bolt torqued and the stand lined up exactly where I wanted it at the same time. I had to re-do several (sometimes several times each) to get the alignment right. Plus you can't tell when they're torqued if they're aligned right until you put the rocker on itself. So if they're off you have to start all over. Once aligned and torqued they held fine.


Jody

I'm seriously looking at using the Jesel shaft rockers. Something I wonder about is the pros/cons of going with a higher ratio rocker like 1.8 instead of the 1.7 I currently have. On my engine there is no issue with the increased lift - the engine was built with clearances and valvesprings to accomodate even more valvelift than the change to the 1.8 ratio. Are there any other issues I should be aware of?

Thomas

Three of us are running them on our motors, had no problems so far. They are actually pretty nice, much better than the girdle setup, and they seem to hold the lash forever.

Thanks guys,
Just to confirm, you guys are running the "lower dollar" SS setup, and not the higher dollar Jesel stuff. Sometimes peoples lower dollar stuff is just as good, and sometimes it is junk. With Jesel's reputation, I assume it is decent stuff, just trying to market it to people that might not otherwise buy Jesel product.

I am using Holley aluminum oval port heads which should be similar to stock. I'll have to check somehow to make sure what I buy will work. I can't afford to have to get more parts.

Thanks again.

Yes Doug, I used the lower dollar version, about $695 as I remember.

Jody

Originally posted by Bomber '67:
I'm seriously looking at using the Jesel shaft rockers. Something I wonder about is the pros/cons of going with a higher ratio rocker like 1.8 instead of the 1.7 I currently have. On my engine there is no issue with the increased lift - the engine was built with clearances and valvesprings to accomodate even more valvelift than the change to the 1.8 ratio. Are there any other issues I should be aware of?

Thomas I went from 1.7 to 1.75 rockers on my big block and had to clearance the guide plates and I think if I went any more I might have had to open the pushrod hole in the head a little. This was on a set of factory irons.

Mike

Doug, mine are the Sportsman series as well - got lucky and picked up my set for $500 - figured I couldn't pass that up.

Mike, are you running the shaft rockers w/guide plates? or do you mean with non-shaft rockers?

-Bob

Mike, unless you know something otherwise, one of the benefits of a shaft rocker system vs stud mount is that it eliminates guide plates (and stud girdles).

Thomas

I have their pro series on my big chief heads and they are bulletproof. I have over 900 lbs open pressure and about 360 seat and NO problems. They are relatively cheap to rebuild and you can get the bearings and do it yourself.

I have friends who run them on conventional heads and they have had zero problems, but I have heard that T&D have better oiling and I believe they are cheaper too.

One thing about shaft rockers - make sure to buy their special tool (it's cheap and included in some cases) to measure for pushrod length and stand height as you only have about 2 turns of adjustment so you must have them close.

The only people I know that have had problems with jesels or T&D's were lazy and did not make all the proper checks.

The best thing about shaft rockers - if yo label them by cylinder number, you can take them off and put them back on the engine and not have to relash. Make sure to check but I find they are bang on when I do that! Handy if you are changing valvesprings on the motor - can do it in no time!

Ryan

Sorry, I'm using stud mounted rockers.
Mike

Incase you don't go that route, my 287/291 @ .020 (lashed at .016/.018 hot, so the engine really sees a decently bigger cam I figure) 256/260 .643 SR I run with Crower Stainless Steel 1.75 RAR rockers and a crane stud girdle, and the lash has not moved at all for 1700 miles of driving.. I am paranoid I am doing it wrong or something, but all seems well..
The guy who put the cam in said he said I could probably go 5000 miles without actually having to change the lash, but to keep an eye on it.
I was skeptical to say the least.

HTH--
sorry to go off topic, but do you know if holley is ever going to make a BB commander 950 EFI system with a pre tapped and drilled manifold that can take advtange of the different runner shapes EFI can use? Should have posted a new question for that, but..

matt