Engine Build /Bezhawk

[gordon tarbell]

Any of you guys in regular contact with Bezhawk that was doing an engine build on here ? I would like to find out more about the rocker arms he scored for his project. He mentioned them in his engine build thread. They look like what I want for a similar project. Is he still around, I think he was in the Alabama area.

[shifter44]

Here is his member info .

memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=520


Maybe you can contact him via this..

[Mike Van Veghten]

Gordon -

The Harland Sharp "rockers" actually do work.
I bought two sets a while back, one set is 1.5 ratio, the other is 1.6 ratio.

I know that there's a few people that had problems with them in the past...I know why. I'm surprised that no one else spotted it !

Their adjusters are WRONG ! The rockers themselves are fine, but the "cup" part of the adjusters is for a smaller diameter pushrod ball ! And yeah, I can see where this would cause a problem. Galling of pushrod tips, breaking of pushrod tips, possibly breaking the rocker itself.

I called around to a bunch of the rocker arm manufacturers and finally found a company that makes the correct adjusters for a stock Stude pushrods.
Right now, the company escapes me, but I'll think of it.

Mike

[gordon tarbell]

When you remember please let me know. Those stainless ones shown on the Bezhawk thread looked stout. I am not a big fan of aluminum rockers on the street for longevity, but if they will last with out problem I will call H&S. Just picked up a 57 hawk and need to build a nice street engine for it. Might even go with a modern Novi supercharger. I think I still have the Novi 1000 laying around here. Used to be able to make around 375 hp on a 302 ford engine.

[Mike Van Veghten]

Gordon, all -

I can't locate a receipt, but I "think" the adjusters are from T&D. As I recall, they were supposedly a Nitro, Harley Davidson race item.
But in any case, they weren't cheap !

As for the aluminum rockers on the street, I've run both stainless and aluminum on the Chevrolet engine. The ONLY problem that I found is when the rocker "stud" and the "valve" are not mahined on the same vertical line. The differential angle would try to pull the aluminum rocker off of its bearing or force the rockers roller tip off to one side, wearing into the aluminum body, causing a lot of side to side slop.
But...with the stainless rocker, it tried to do the same thing. But with the tougher material, it put an odd wear pattern on the roller tip. The stainless rocker would last longer, before it "also" needed replacing as the valve wore into the tip and causing a groove to form. In actuality...it the valve was just forming its own perpendicular surface into the roller tip !!

So...with the Stude's shaft system, as long as the given rocker arm (Harland Sharp) is machined correctly (shaft to roller tip parallel), and a correct adjuster is used, there should be no problem.
That's what I'm hoping to see anyway !

Mike

[Jay Bradel]

"I can't locate a receipt, but I "think" the adjusters are from T&D. As I recall, they were supposedly a Nitro, Harley Davidson race item.
But in any case, they weren't cheap !"

I purchased the last batch of adjusting screws T&D made with the correct cup size for Studebakers. They indicated that they are not going to manufacture this size again.
Jay

[gordon tarbell]

So if that was the last batch for a stude, then I need to spec out pushrods using a different radius end to be compatible with currently available rocker arm adjusters? I was actually thinking of using shaft mounted(similar to factory shaft or on factory shaft) rockers of 1.6 ratio on the R2+ grind that Phil sells . Not set in stone at this time just looking at options. I was hoping to find some rockers that would slide onto the original stude shaft that I could get the geometry dialed in with a little shimming or machining of the stands.

[Jay Bradel]

Talk to Phil Harris at Fairborn Studebaker for the push rods with two different ends.

[Mike Van Veghten]

Gordon -

MAKe SURE that you double check the length of pushrod that you'll need.
A coupla thousandths, no big deal, but past about .02" difference in required length, will mess with the rocker geometry.
I cut and threaded a stock pushrod to stick a piece of all-thread to hold them together. You'll need to lock one end because of the same thread direction. But this way, you can get pretty close to finding the correct pushrod length.
If you have a dual pattern cam, you'll need to check both the intake and the exhaust for the correct length.

The farther off of a good "0" (or correct pushrod length) that you are, will lower the valve lift.

Mike

[gordon tarbell]

Agreed Mike on PR length . I have a whole set of different style adjustable pushrods for setting different engines that I work on . very important yes.

[Alan]

Gord, Check with Smith Bros. pushrods in Oregon. They will build you anything you need.

[gordon tarbell]

Spot on Alan , Smith Bros. and Manton are my go to for pushrods. I don't think I have used a stock pushrod in an engine in over 40 yrs.