Hello all ...
I love my DI.....but I wish it had chevy rocker arms and studs on it.
I feel I have more than enough valve train noise and intend to quiet it down...somehow.
I know that this may seem a little "out there" but, have any of you ever experimented with machining a few thousands off of the rocker arm shaft towers to tighten things up a little, it seem like new lifters /push rods / rocker assy's are an expensive route.
I"ve heard that there are shims available for the bottom of the rocker shaft towers ( used when installing a hi perf. cam ) I think I read on this forum once that someone had to use some shims because they had had the heads machined and took off too much and needed the shims to get clearance back. I guess I was curious on where to get the shims if I decided to take a chance and have the machining done....and overdid it.

I think I'm going to buy new push rods first before I take the full plunge.
any comments ??

 

Consider doing a good engine flush first just to get the most flow and pressure, then if need be, pull the v/c and inspect the rockers and arms, pull each push rod to make sure the ball on either end is not showing wear, lastly pull one lifter at a time looking for surface wear on the hardened surface of both the lifter and the cam.
Let us know what you find.

 

Hello and thanks Mike,
I should have given a little more info... I just had the heads off a month ago to do the gasket job....the machine shop did the valves, took .004" off the heads just to "clean them up" they also cleaned out the rocker assys
I looked hard at the cam and lifters and didnt "see" any wear..no scuffing or peening
the push rods were dirty but without a new one to compare to It's hard to tell if they were worn.
about half of the rockers had a slight marking where they contacted the valves, I Polished these marks out slightly ( just because).
I had previously done a flush, and even had the pan off just to check and clean it out.
I have always used synthetic 10w40, i recently switched to 20w50...which quieted things down a little...but don't dare run that in the winter here
and just so you know ...I had valve noise before the head gasket job too

 

I had that ticking on my 97. I finally got tired of it and took it to a local independent LR master tech. He put 2 new (rebuilt) rockers shafts in it for $500 out the door. No more ticking. My old rockers had a couple oil holes completely plugged and were in general pretty worn. Sounds like you had the rockers addressed. He did tell me that rocker ticking and loose/bad cats sound almost identical. Have you checked your cats for rattling? Just a thought.

 

Thanks TM
I'm wondering now how well they were cleaned.....clean on the outside may not mean clean on the inside.....as for the cats I have wondered about that several times.....I've beat on them with my fist and dont hear any rattling inside.....but maybe thats not the recommended service procedure ?