I have a 66 B 383 with a fairly mild cam and I was wondering if I could get a measurable improvement out of roller tip rocker arms. Has anyone else installed a set and how did they work?I am also looking to install a gear vendor overdrive so if anyone knows anything to watch out for let me know.

P.S. I am wondering where the best place to have my dash restored. Who has had their dash redone, and was it well done?

 

The roller tip rockers I am looking at are 1.6 to 1 ratio instead of the 1.5 to 1 that it had when I purchased it.

 

believe it or not, this is a cheap way to make the engine think it has a bigger cam. (due to the bigger ratio). The roller tip might get you just a little bit more (3-5 HP)

 

Be careful, be very careful. The increased rocker ratio does make the engine think the cam is bigger but that also will create clearance issues. When doing this kind of modification it is important to be sure the clearance between the valve and piston is sufficient. Also the spring rates will be changing with the additional lift ratio. You need to check for spring bind. how old are the springs? they may be due to be changed anyway. Don't forget with every modification there is something else that may be affected. If you were doing a complete engine rebuild then everything would match and then, absolutely go all roller. Lifters and rockers, but with this, the gain may not be worth the investment. Also the increased ratio will only make a difference at WOT and at top RPM's. If that is not where the engine will be spending any significant time. you may consider spending those performance dollars somewhere else.

Good luck.

 

I agree with Crazy, I doubt if you would notice any difference in normal driving.

 

Thanks for the advice. I just took the heads in and had them rebuilt with the 1.74" exhaust upgrade. The heads are casting #2406516 with the 2.08" intake valves, when I took them in to the machine shop I gave them instructions to fix anything that needed replacement. What I found strange when I took it all apart was 3 of the pushrods are shorter than the rest, I guess the hydraulic lifters will make up for some of that but I will be buying a matched set. The cam is fairly mild probably an RV grind, the pistons are flat top .040 over, Edelbrock DP4B intake and a 700 HDP with a trickit to top it off. I guess I will just have to assemble it with plastiguage and see if I need to upgrade to pistons with the valve depressions.



P.S. does anyone have a gear vendor overdrive? they are supposed to be able to handle over 1000 hp. Im tired of my engine turning at 2800 rpm on the highway but at the same time I like my 3.91 gears on the sure-grip. My Barracuda's dash has some splits in it and I have to get it fixed however Im kind of scared to send it away.

 

Just read the gear vendor od thread but I still would like to hear from someone who has had their dash redone. And not just a glue on, I want the real deal.