Bear with me, I have a few questions about the following items:

What is the difference between a "Solid Roller" and a "Hydraulic Roller"?

What does it mean when someone says that their block has "Splayed Caps?"

Are there any advantages/disadvantages to Shaft Mount Rocker Arms? What is the advantage of a rigid valvetrain?

Would stud girdles help to make the valvetrain more rigid? Do you need taller valve covers to use shaft mount rockers or stud girdles?

Why are rocker arms offered in Self-Aligning and Non-Self-Aligning versions? Advantages/disadvantages of the two?

Why are rocker studs offered in 3/8" and 7/16" versions? Does the 7/16" stud allow for higher lift cams?

 

first off, do a search. it will give you tons of info.

solid roller and hydraulic roller refers to cam and lifter setups. solid roller cams compared to hydraulic roller cam are more aggressive due to the lobe design (ramps are more extreme). when you run solid roller cams, you should run solid roller lifters, which are just what the title says "solid", there is no plunger inside the lifter. hydraulic lifters have plungers inside the lifters to oil the topend. the high spring pressures that go along with solid roller setups will collapse the plunger on your ordinary hydrualic lifters.


the two outer bolts on the main caps have been drilled at an angle.


yes/yes. shaftmounts are quite a bit stronger and control the valvetrain alot better than traditional stud mounted rockers. downfall- very expensive and sometimes need taller valvecovers. rigid valvetrain has less play and more control, which is whats needed to turn high rpm.


yes stud girdles help and yes you have to use taller valve covers along with taller studs. some shaftmount rocker systems will clear stock valve covers with some slight modification.


SA means you dont have to run guideplates while NSA you should run guideplates.


the term bigger is better is not always true but in this case it is. 7/16 gives you more strength allowing for more agressive setups which equals more power.

i know there is quite a bit more info on the questions youve asked, just do a search, maybe someone else cam chime in and help answer your questions.