have never really seen much discussion of the benefits or gains from switching to 1.7 full roller rockers on the LS1.

car has mods in the sig, including a decent cam so i can't go with the higher ratio rockers.

there is someone selling them for a good price...much less than new, even though they are still in the box.

besides added reliability (needle bearing failure) would the roller tip make much difference? how bout lighter weight?

i'm kindda at the point in mods where it's down to those 5hp for $500 things. since i have the major bolt ons, and a cam...only major thing lacking is heads...which are coming soon i hope.

but untill i can afford those, and afford the install and dyno tune i'm left playing with smaller yield mods.

5hp from rockers
5-10hp from waterpump
5-10 from true duals

all are pretty pricey...with the rockers being the cheapest

 

The stockers are supposed to be quite light in comparison. Not sure you'll see any gains.

In last Sept's issue of GMHTP in the shoot out, 4 of the 6 LS1 cars that were there were running stock rockers. These were 10 sec cars too.

 

I use the stock rockers in most everything I do. Unless I am going solid roller and require adjustable rockers there is no reason to get away from the stockers in my opinion, and I have tried them all.

 

well for the hell of it, and for curiosity sake, and a nagging desire to do something to my car....i bought the rockers.

$200 shipped for harland sharp 1.7 roller rockers.

they look sexy as hell, wish you could see them on the engine.

i weighed both on a digital scale at work

Harland Sharps = 135.00g
stock = 138.5g

i was suprised when i saw the scale read 135.00g exactly, now i only weighed one, so i don't know if that was just strange coincidence that it was so even, or if they are machined that exactly.

so you can see the weight isn't significant, but the structureal strength looks to be better. with the higher lift cam, and more agressive lobes, i think this may equal more accurate lift and valve geometry.

pics of them installed coming soon.

 

oh...and a word on fit...

they didn't...least not without some clearancing.

i installed everything, buttoned the car back up and started it. i know the lifters make some racket when you first fire the car after doing valve train work. but this continued.

pulled the passenger valve cover (easiest) and noticed a small amount of aluminum particals on the front most rocker. the rear edge of the rocker was rubbing on the inside lip of the head/vavle cover sealing surface. looks like a VERY small amount, since the spot on the rocker that had the anodizing rubbed off was about 2mmx1mm on one of the corners.

pulled all the rockers and that was the worst one, on other set had small marks about the size of a pin head.

these were made from clearance issues with the extra casting material on the inside edge of the head. a couple minutes with a file removed about 1mm of material. i took slightly more off the front one that had the most problem. should be fine now.

like i said, 4 of the 8 rockers on that side had signs of rubbing (very small) and the other 4 didn't. i clearanced all of them just to be safe.


time to rip off the driver side and see what those look like.

 

I attempted to use a set of the HS rockers once upon a time and found that the rockers on #1, 7, 2, and 8....basically the four corners all had rubbing issues.

HS makes some nice stuff, but I am not a fan of the LS1 Rocker.

 

yeah...that is the problem i seem to be having.

although the delicate touch of a file and i think it's been resolved.

we'll see.

 

True, I didn't feel that a new set of rockers should have to be ground down to fit. My customer agreed so we returned them and used a set of Crane Golds and they work beautifully.

 

yeah....but for saving $200 i'll deal with it

 

pictures...

bottom of the page

 

once the oil finally worked its way into the bearings...took a while...it quieted right down.

seems to be a bit quieter than the stock rockers.

who knows