I figure if the steel shaft is worn, then the aluminum rocker arms are also going to be worn.

Tighter fit means less lateral movement, but the only way to get zero lateral movement is if there is zero clearance, and that wouldn't let any oil in = bad day in Rover Land.

I think it is so cool that these engine parts are so easy to find and get for our dinosaur trucks. So I would renew the parts. On the other hand, if you are not out racing at high RPMs and change oil routinely, and don't put a lot of miles on, those old parts will likely serve you well for a long time. I did notice the Shop Manual has a section specifically for renewing the rocker arm shafts. Maybe that's a hint.

 

I priced out NOS rocker assembly on line and it's $1200.00+...
Anyone used the aftermarket shafts and rocker arms from Atlantic British or Rovers North?

 

i would go with a good used OEM part before I would buy an aftermarket engine part. Plenty of breakers out there, Will Tillery, Goldwing, Roverland,etc

 

I'm using aftermarket kits in my 94 and 96 D1s. No problems thousands of miles down the road. I figure good lifters and good oil will compensate for the rockers. Plus my driving habits are easy. If I was an off-road racer, I probably would get OEM.

PS That price is more than I paid for each of my trucks.

 

This is where I am caught.
I don't know what constitutes a "good" used oem.
I'm sure I could tell what a bad one looks like, I only have 110k miles on the motor and the rocker parts look like this...
Some scoring on the bottom of the shaft and inside of the arms...
Thoughts on if they need replacing?

 

It’s hard to tell from the picture, the shaft looks like it might be ok. Can you feel any scratches with your fingernail? What’s the diameter of the shaft where the rocker arm was? The rocker arm looks like it might have some excessive wear. Someone like Will Tillery will inspect the parts before they are sent so odds are you will get a decent part.

Was there a reason you are rebuilding the top end?

Good info here:
http://www.v8engines.com/engine-4.htm

 

Yeah, check the wear, measure it with a mic or caliper. More than a couple though will be a problem. RAVE shoudl have some specs.

 

That is a typical wear pattern you show in your pic of an engine that went a bit too long between oil changes. As has been described before, hard metal bits get embedded into the rocker arms and causes those scratches..... Easiest repair: get new set of quality shafts, carefully polish inside of rocker arms, re-assemble...

make sure you clean out the rocker arm oil passages

 

I was curious about being able to polish the inside of the current arms and reuse them.
The shaft, I can't actually find any measurable difference between where the rockers live and the non wear areas, can barely even feel anything with my fingernail apart from the wear on the bottom.
New shafts make sense along with polishing the rockers.
I've had this truck since new and used rotella dino since after the warranty period was up, probably the cleanest motor around (internally) apart from a new build, maybe just the standard wear on this configuration...
Seems like a pretty poor design to get fresh oil up into and on to the rockers, very limiting with 1 oil gallery.
I'll get back with the results.
Thanks again everyone.

 

I'm chasing an upper valvetrain tick that comes and goes.
The lifters and pushrods were replaced but the rocker assembly was reused and I doubt it was taken apart and cleaned...
I took out the lifters and cleaned them, all the pushrods look good so hopefully this rocker assembly rebuild will be the cure.