Last couple months as I have time been working on my cam install and finally turned it over 2 days ago and it started right up nice and smooth, 5 minutes later as I'm revving up to 3K it gets really rough and I immediately turned it off. Since then it wouldn't run without foot deep on the gas and still very rough. So today did a compression test and I've got 0 comp on cylinder #3, the rest are at 150psi. Pulled the valve cover and I see the #3 exhaust pushrod is bent. Removed the roller rocker and exhaust valve is still stuck open. Going to be removing the heads again, hopefully cam and all pistons are okay but we'll see.

This project has been going for 2 months now as I've cleaned and painted all parts as well as new high volume oil pump and rear main seal installed. I started getting anxious to have it back together cause I miss my truck, started cutting corners like not wanting to spend another $500 on adjustable roller rockers or waiting for them in the mail. My cam was supposed to be ground to allow for 1.7 roller rockers but I think my mistake was not using adjustable, looking back they did compress the valve quite a bit and pushed it open a little when tightening down the roller rockers. Big mistake and now going to cost more than just rockers.

I've been trusting my part supplier to ensure all is compatible and that hasn't worked out well probly because I did not mention the rockers were non-adjustable, not blaming him this is my mistake.

Can you guys please give me advice on my current setup and tell me if all is compatible and if not tell me what I need to do to make this all work? My plan is to pick up some adjustable roller rockers and repair or replace all that was damaged.

My cam is the Hi-Potek 206x4 112LSA from Comp Cams, installed straight up at 0* (ground for 1.7 roller rockers)
Harland Sharp 1.7 roller rockers non-adjustable
EQ Monster magnum heads with 2.02 intake valves
new Mopar pushrods
new hydraulic valve lifters



EDIT: Summary of outcome. Using fixed rockers with a custom cam and not wanting to spend another $450 on new roller rockers(as this build was already way over budget and the thought was that my cam was ground for the rockers I already owned) caused the valves to not close all the way, in particular exhaust valve #3, the guide overheated and caused the valve to stick which collided with the piston.

There is no benefit to using 1.7 rockers when installing a custom cam, they are only for use with the stock cam. The cam was ground for use with 1.7 rockers because I already owned 1.7 rockers that I was using with the stock cam and was trying to save money by not buying rockers again. I kept the 1.7 ratio on the rebuild only because my cam was already ground for use with 1.7s and don't want to buy new cam.

The motor was rebuilt again using adjustable 1.7 roller rockers and runs great.

Here's a summary of parts and cost.

$980 EQ Monster Magnum Heads(2.02 Intake Valves) from Clearwater Cylinderhead
$343 CompCams 206X4 112LSA from Hi-potek
$329 Harland Sharp Rockers S70037 fixed 1.7 ratio from SoutheastRT
(already owned these rockers and that's the only reason cam was ground for use with 1.7 rockers, it's highly advisable to stick with 1.6 rockers when doing a cam and get adjustables!)
$136 Hughes Hydraulic Lifter set from Hi-potek
$95 Hughes Valve Spring set (not used) from Hi-potek
$85 Felpro Headset(complete upper engine kit) HS 9898 PT-2 from Ebay
$70 ARP Headbolts from Hi-potek
$66 Melling High Volume Oil Pump M-72HV from Ebay
$62 Hughes Valve Retainers (not used) from Hi-potek
$50 Duplicolor High Temp Engine Paint from Napa
$48 Timing Chain Tensioner from Hi-potek
$46 Hi-potek Shipping
$45 Mopar Hardened Pushrod set P5249662 from chyslerpartsdirect.com
$32 Valve Spring seal set (not used) Hi-potek
$32 Oil/Filter Walmart
$27 Supertech Coolant fromWalmart $9ea
$22 Fepro Rear Main Seal BS40651 from Ebay
$22 Mopar PCV Valve S3-05052-00146 from Ebay
$21 Felpro Oil Pan Gasket OS34409R from Ebay
$17 CompCams Pushrod Length Checker(not used) 7905-1 from Ebay
$17 Moroso Oil Pump Prime Tool 62250 from Ebay
$16 Cam Bolt/Washer (not used/didn't fit) from Hi-potek
$15 Cylinder Carbide Rotary Burr SB-5(for porting heads) from Ebay
$15 Hughes Valve Spring Keeper set (not used) from Hi-potek
$14 Timing Gasket from Hi-potek
$13 Airtex VC Breather Elbow 7F1013 from Ebay
$13 Crank Bolt from Hi-potek
$11 Thermostat Housing Tube 85181 from Rockauto
$9 Autolite Spark Plugs 5224(for 195 stat) from Walmart
$7 SMP VC Breather Grommet GV31 from Ebay
$7 CompCams Breakin Oil from Ebay
$6 Ultra Gray RTV from Walmart
$5 Stant 195 Thermostat 13009 from Ebay(180 too cold in winter)
$5 Mopar PCV Grommet 53030017 from Ebay
$4 Cam Key from Hi-potek
$2685 FIRST BUILD TOTAL


Rebuild
$459 Harland Sharp adjustable Studmount Roller Rockers S7307, 3/8ths Mounting Studs, Guide Plates from SoutheastRT
$245 Powder Coat JBA Headers local shop
-$230 Sold Harland Sharp fixed ratio Rockers S70037
$145 Valve Job
$60 Replacement Exhaust Valve from Clearwater Cyl Head
$52 Felpro 519SD Head Gaskets from Ebay
$32 Long's Transmission Cooler Thermal Bypass Valve from Ebay
$32 Oil/Filter from Walmart
$25 Felpro Intake Gasket MS953921 from Ebay
$20 Fuel Synced by local shop
$13 CompCams 106 Valve Train Assembly Spray from Ebay
$11 Felpro Exhaust Manifold Gasket Set MS95480 from Ebay
$10 Replacement Hydraulic Valve Lifter Sealed Power HT-2269 from Ebay
$9 Replacement CompCams Hardened Pushrod 7631-1 Ebay
$7 CompCams Breakin Oil from Ebay
$6 Ultra Gray RTV from Walmart
Filtered and reused Coolant
Reused ARP Headbolts
$876 REBUILD TOTAL

$3561 COMBINED TOTAL







Bent Pushrod




#3 Exhaust valve not closed




Damaged Head gasket lifter hole




Broken Lifter




Painted Motor

 

You running stock springs?

I don't get what ground for 1.7 rockers means? They cut all the lift off or something?

Did you turn the engine over sveral times by hand and check for things like retainer clearance, binding, valvetrain geometery? Pushrod wear pattern on the rocker arm?

 

He is not running stock springs.


Did you check your valve train geometry...Does the rocker sweep over the center of the valve stem? Really critical on non adj. rockers, and as you suggested, get some adj 1.7 rockers for a cam swap.


" looking back they did compress the valve quite a bit and pushed it open a little when tightening down the roller rockers. Big mistake and now going to cost more than just rockers."

^oops

 

No my springs are custom pressures based off my cam specs, done by Odessa Clearwater where I purchased the heads.
Ground for 1.7 rockers means they cut down the cam lift to allow room for my already purchased 1.7 rockers so I don't have to buy new ones.

Yes turned over many times by hand and no interference whatsoever but guess that changes when the RPMs come up. I did check that the rocker tip wear pattern is centered over the middle of the valve.
I didn't notice any retainer clearance binding issues. No didn't check pushrod wear pattern on rocker arms, I thought I checked valve train geometry when checking the tip of rocker arm is centered over valve but guess that is something else.
No didn't check pushrod wear pattern.

I only checked the tip of the rocker wear pattern is centered over the tip of the valve and it was perfectly centered and torqued to 21ft lbs. Did not check the other things mentioned by Hambone which I plan on doing on the repair build.

So to get on the right track I'll order the adjustables and not do a half *** job of installing them by checking all geometry items mentioned by hambone. Thanks for your input guys.

 

What do 1.7s matter if you have the correct springs?

 

There won't be any "push rod wear pattern" on the rocker arms, I don't know where that comes from.


If the cam was ground for 1.7s he needs to stay with 1.7s. You can run 1.7's on a 1.6 cam and gain more lift, I'm running 1.6s on a 1.5 ground cam to get .640 lift.


What lobe lift was ground into you cam? Your cam card should tell you, I can't see the entire card in your picture.


It should say 1.7 somewhere.

 

I updated the cam card photo, I doesn't say 1.7 anywhere but does show Lobe Lift near the bottom

Intake Lift: .3060 and Exhaust Lift .3050

The cam was ground for 1.7 rockers with a lift of no more than .520. (Lobe lift of .3060 x 1.7 = .520)

I have checked this many times with Richard from Hi-Potek, also Comp Cams verified the cam is ground for 1.7s, and Odessa Clearwater also verified the lobe lift is .520 with 1.7s. Think I'm okay there

 

Get out the dial indicator if you want to be sure.

 

When you have the heads off check the valve stem clearance too.

I still say your problem was:

" looking back they did compress the valve quite a bit and pushed it open a little when tightening down the roller rockers. Big mistake and now going to cost more than just rockers."

 

Did you install your Timing Chain Dot-To-Dot? On my Camshaft Sprocket, there are actually 2 dots. 1 puts the #6 cylinder at TDC (proper one to use), and the other dot put the #1 cylinder at TDC (Don't use that one, I made that mistake because it was the bigger dot). It sucked to have to re-do all that work.