sbf shaft mount rockers, builders, who likes what and why?

[Joey120373]

Looking at “sportsman” level shaft mount rockers for a small block ford.

Jesel, T&D, scorpion, Comp cams, did I miss anyone?

Prices on these all seem to be in the same ball park,
 ~$1200 for the scorpion to ~$1600 for the T&D and comp offerings.

Was wondering if the engine builders had any preferences, and if so why.
My guess is they are all good, if not overkill for the average street/strip guy.

I used to work with a guy who started his career in Jesels shop, at the time he was a young kid and offered to sweep the floors for free just to get into the shop. He was a fan of the jesel stuff, obviously.

I’m leaning more and more towards a street-able solid roller for my mustang engine, and thinking a shaft mount system is worth the initial investment .

[Rory428]

When I bought the current 347 SBF that is in my Fairmont, it had been built by my machinist buddy, for a friends street 95 Mustang, who went kinda overkill on everything, (Dart 4.125" bore block, steel crank, Jesel belt drive, etc). And although it only has a moderate Lunati hydraulic roller cam, he requested the big dollar Morel Hi Rev roller lifters, and Crower shaft rockers. Other than dyno time, I have only put 52 1/4 mile passes on the car last year, and it`s within 1/2 tenth of the best my 427/454 FE ever ran, although I had much less $$$ in the FE, and used mostly OE Ford parts in that. If I would have been building this 347, I likely would have spent about 1/2 the money, and went with a timing chain setup, and stud rockers, but I gotta say, the Crower shaft rockers are pretty nice, plus they are low profile enough, that they fit under the factory 82-85 5.0 Mustang finned aluminum valve covers. Since the guy the engine was built for, was planning to stay with EFI, and a factory hood, I guess tall valve covers would have been an issue. For the cam, and RPM I run, (shift at 7000, 7200 at the finish line), the shaft rockers are pretty much overkill, but I certainly have nothing bad to say about them. My buddy has the Jesel Sportsman rockers on his similar big bore 347, and he is really happy with them, but his is a big solid roller, 8600 RPM combination.

[blykins]

I prefer the Jesel Sportsman rockers. 

The Scorpion rockers are really not a high end rocker and when you're going to a shaft mounted rocker, I think you need to get what you pay for.  The T&D's are also nice, but require welding when you get geometry the way you want. 

The Jesels have a nice sub-bar that mounts to the head and then have paired rockers. 

I'm building a 311 with the Jesels right now.  Even with 675 lbs of spring pressure, they don't lose any lift.

[gdaddy01]

I am at 310 and have lost a lot of lift.

[Joey120373]

@Rory428, that sounds like you have one heck of a motor. I had not looked at the crowder stuff yet. That motor sounds a lot like the one the “kid” in my head starts building every time I think about it, but then the “adult” in my head reminds me that I have a whole car to build, and I need to pick and choose where I spend money…….

The ability to have a super stable valve train and use regular valve covers is a big deal for me, and I would like the option of revving the thing to the moon should I get a wild hair, so the shaft mount stuff seems like an extra $600-$800 ( ish ) well spent.



@brent

That’s the kind of info I was hoping for, I assumed the scorpion stuff was “ok” at that price point, but they are not enough cheaper to chance it on quality.
Have you posted here at all about your 311? I’ve watched a few of your vids on it, but would be cool to get more info. What the goals are and why you chose certain parts etc.

As for my motor, after thinking about it for months, I think I have settled on a 347 combo. I have a good mid 90s truck block. Cast or forged Scat crank, Scat rods, Mahle flat tops (4032 alloy) , AFR 195 heads, solid roller and the shaft mount rockers .

Exact rpm range is still up in the air, but I want it to rev, maybe peek at 6500-6800 and shift at 7000+.
Manual trans, no power brakes, and high gears in the rear.