Rocker Shaft End Supports

[R-WEST]

I keep reading about rocker shaft end supports being almost mandatory, but, didn't Ford run pretty nasty cams and pretty healthy springs in their NASCAR/LeMans, etc.., engines without them? 
Just curious.

[jayb]

Back in the day the springs they were running were nowhere near as strong as they are now.  Cam ramps were slower, and the factory race engines were using the lightweight hollow stem valves, which limited the amount of valvespring that was required.  As soon as better springs started to become available the FE shaft and stand system started to be a problem...

[Ford428CJ]

What Jay said ! LOL any performance build, it's a must!

[R-WEST]

Until I can get the scratch together for my aluminum 482, I'm redoing the 390 in my shortbed '76 F100, and am wondering if the stock rocker arm setup will work okay with a Lunati (#62003  .552"/.564" 227/233 268/276 110/106) Voodoo cam.  What do you think?

I may be able to dig enough out of the 'household' money to use Ed heads.  How about the stock setup with that one, or is that just too wrong to even consider?

Thanks.

[Barry_R]

That cam should be OK with stock rocker stuff.  I say "should".  An end stand kit is under $200 from numerous places and would vastly improve your luck.

The factory high performance FE engines like the 427 used factory steel rocker stands that clamped around the shaft providing extra support for the weak point - the end exhaust.

[chilly460]

Just personal experience, using stock shafts I found some galling on the end rockers from flexing with a little 270H cam (224 .519) and stock Edelbrock flat tappet spec springs.  I know plenty of guys run without end supports with little cams like this, but I'd want a little insurance.  HD shafts may be enough to deal with it as well.

[rcodecj]

Back in the 80's with the mild ramp cams on Crane cams, one was 226 dur and .580ish lift and it snapped rocker shafts, the other Crane cam was 232 dur and .542 lift ran for over 40,000 miles with no problems ever. That being said I will always run end stands and spacers. 

[garyv]

People now run end stands for a reason like Jay and  Barry said.
I would take their advice.
End stands from POP's are $130.00.
cheap insurance.
garyv

[R-WEST]

Will they work with the OEM rocker setup?
The last FE I did was in '80 or '81, and I'm still trying to catch up on all the new technology..     Even back then all I heard was "why ya' workin' on that old boat anchor?"...

[jayb]

Yes, they do work with the OEM setup, the only exception being that you may have to trim the drip trays a little to fit.

A lot of guys out there think FEs are boat anchors; that's why its fun to build a strong one and show 'em up 

[cjshaker]

Back in the 80's with the mild ramp cams on Crane cams, one was 226 dur and .580ish lift and it snapped rocker shafts, the other Crane cam was 232 dur and .542 lift ran for over 40,000 miles with no problems ever. That being said I will always run end stands and spacers.

Same experiences here. I've been running without 'em on my F250 with a mild 390 (227@.050, .530 lift) for 20 years without problems. Same on a couple other mild engines I have. Heavy duty shafts and iron stands will eliminate problems on mild builds. Stay away from stock 40+ year old shafts and aluminum stands. But for anything bigger, or if you can afford it, always run them to be safe.

[66FAIRLANE]

I ran new stock shafts and adjustable rockers on a Lunati 590/590 ish solid with the standard Edelbrock valve springs for about 10 years. The ends eventually broke. Plenty of RPM though, and not all of it stable   

[R-WEST]

Thanks a bunch, guys!!   What a wealth of info this site is. 

Between here, Barry's and the network54 site I'm learning more about the old warhorse than I ever thought possible. 

[Ford428CJ]

My old school solid roller cam was 228 and 234 @.050 with 565 lift... Snapped a shaft... So I put end stands on stock shafts... never an issue after that....

[Barry_R]

That boat anchor comment was once delivered to me by Freiburger at Hot Rod (no ripping on him - he's a friend and a really good guy).  It was the primary motivation for me to build the very first Genesis block based 505 inch FE engine - the "676 Horsepower Dinosaur" that was featured in Hot Rod way back in '04....