Rocker arm repair

C

cjc56

Senior Member
I have a set of ECZ-B heads that I would like to put on a 56 312 in a tbird. The rocker arms have a lot of wear on the valve side to the point that a round spot has worn into the rocker arm(from valve stem contact). Can these rocker arms be machined/ground to provide a new surface for the top of the valve stem to come in contact with?
 
yes, they can. A good machine shop can do it for you, or you can do it yourself. Find a way with a bench grinder to keep the same geometry with your shaft though, and only take off what is needed to bring the surface level.
 
I have done it on a vertical belt sander with the table set at a true 90 degrees. Eyeball the contour of the original undamaged area, and duplicate it.
 
Or buy replacements as needed and new shafts also. Yours are 1.43:1 ratio, they are available. IMHO, I would also rework them to full pressure oiling at this time .
 
full pressure oiling is where you cap off the overflow return tube at the end of the shaft. Some have removed it altogether and simply tapped the last rocker arm stand at the hole up top that delivers flow to the tube and then placed a set screw in there. Others have left a little bit of flow by essentially making the oil return tube much smaller in ID by a set screw with a hole in it. I personally prefer capping it off altogether.

However, I also provide for some timing chain oiling up front by some minor modifications to the block/camshaft retainer plate.
 
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Hot Rod Rev, How do you provide for more oiling for the timing chain? I too have noticed that the chain gets very little oil.
 
Use this link... it has photos.
http://yblockguy.com/techtips/oiling_mods.html

This is from Tim Mcmaster out in California a machinist who has rebuilt rocker arm assemblies for me. He knows all about Y blocks and has a good reputation for building strong engines. Check it out.

One thing that he does not discuss or show on the brief article is that you need to put a matching groove on the camshaft plate that will take oil from the hole down to your drip tray pictured. I did mine with a dremel tool.
 
cjc56 said:
I have a set of ECZ-B heads that I would like to put on a 56 312 in a tbird. The rocker arms have a lot of wear on the valve side to the point that a round spot has worn into the rocker arm(from valve stem contact). Can these rocker arms be machined/ground to provide a new surface for the top of the valve stem to come in contact with?
Click to expand...

that is a common sop for that type of rocker . My valve facing machine has an attachment for refacing rocker arms .
If you are in the south Jersey area I'd be happy to be of service .
 
Wish I were up there, but I live in central Virginia. I should be able to take them to a local machine shop here. Thanks anyway!
 
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