• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

B20 roller rockers?

New Roller Rockers nearly ready to Rock n Roll

Hi all,

After the usual types of delays faced by fathers trying to restore cars and be good dads, I finally have the engine assembled, in the car and just about ready to run. I prettied up the engine but I could not bring myself to put it back in the dingy old engine bay so, one thing led to another and I stripped and resprayed the engine bay and restored the various ancillary devices et al.

Whilst up on the hoist I discovered holes in the fuel tank, now restored, new fuel and brake lines, new exhaust, new lower torque arm bushes and fixing oval shaped bolt holes in the mounts. The worst discovery was previous owner "repairs" to the sub frame (longitudinal rails). Bog (bondo), fiberglass, rivets and rubbish. Finished making new sub frame replacement rails going in this week, repaired other rusty floor sections and finally fit carbs, brake, connect wiring and off we go. So much for a quick mechanical engine / gearbox rebuild.
 
Last edited:
Jayde said:
Hi all,

After the usual types of delays faced by fathers trying to restore cars and be good dads, I finally have the engine assembled, in the car and just about ready to run. I prettied up the engine, I could not bring myself to put it back in the dingy old engine bay so, one thing led to another and I stripped and resprayed the engine and restored the various ancillary devices et al.

Whilst up on the hoist I discovered holes in the fuel tank, now restored, new fuel and brake lines, new exhaust, new lower torque arm bushes and fixing oval shaped bolt holes in the mounts. The worst discovery was previous owner "repairs" to the sub frame (longitudinal rails). Bog (bondo), fiberglass, rivets and rubbish. Finished making new sub frame replacement rails going in this week, repaired other rusty floor sections and finally fit carbs, brake, connect wiring and off we go. So much for a quick mechanical engine / gearbox rebuild.
Click to expand...
Gee, I'm shocked.:nod:;-) I've never had any of my projects take more time and money than I thought they would...no, not me!:lol: Crumb, my formula has become three times my best time guess and four times the money..:omg::oops: Can't wait to hear from you how all this shakes out, and best of luck!:cool::-D
 
Hofstadter's law Vs Optimism bias

Gentlemen, you are correct. It all started with the assumption that my engineer would give me all three points of value of the Management Triangle; Good, Fast and Cheap. It went down hill from there.

After 27 years of restoring cars you would be safe in assuming a certain resilience to the age old problem of Optimism Bias. Added to the problem is that it is virtually impossible to only partly restore a car. Such is life...

I am just waiting on the forum administrator to sort out why I can't add photos. In the mean time I have added images to my pinterest page.

http://www.pinterest.com/gmjayde/1800s-restoration/

Just remember it's not full restoration at this stage, it's just a tidy up and mechanical upgrade :aus:.
 
The engine and engine bay look awesome. Can't wait to see how the rockers work. I had a friend make up a dual grove pulley...it was easier than sourcing the 140 parts. You can see it hiding a little in this shot.

 
I’ve been wanting to get my hands on a set of off the shelf v8 1.6 ratio rockers to develop a kit. Just haven’t found myself with free funds to invest that match the interest.

If you’re not on a time limit, I’ll have capacity to design and machine parts around September/October. I’ll just need parts to build from. I have a spare head, stock rocker shaft and pedestals. I’d just need the arms. Split a v8 set?
 
TurboDutch said:
Slightly old thread but anyone in Australia who could hook me up with a set of roller rockers from yella terra?

Or any other ideas how to obtain similar for reasonable price?
Click to expand...
You might have more luck on the OZ Volvo forum, there's maybe 5 active Aus members on TB: https://ozvolvo.org/

TIL that Yella Terra makes pushrod roller rocker kits: https://store.yellaterra.com.au/categories/roller-rocker-sets/volvo.html

For those wanting the DIY approach, I'd contact Harland Sharp. Off the shelf rockers that are close will be ~$60/ea, and they might have a set with the correct offsets. But given that you're half way to a YT set with just purchasing the core rockers it might just be wise to go that route. But who am I kidding, this is TB :ROFLMAO:

Also, if you're not running over 14mm of valve lift a roller rocker probably isn't really necessary. If you set up a pushrod head correctly, the rocker geometry is better than a lot of other heads.
 
culberro said:
You might have more luck on the OZ Volvo forum, there's maybe 5 active Aus members on TB: https://ozvolvo.org/

TIL that Yella Terra makes pushrod roller rocker kits: https://store.yellaterra.com.au/categories/roller-rocker-sets/volvo.html

For those wanting the DIY approach, I'd contact Harland Sharp. Off the shelf rockers that are close will be ~$60/ea, and they might have a set with the correct offsets. But given that you're half way to a YT set with just purchasing the core rockers it might just be wise to go that route. But who am I kidding, this is TB :ROFLMAO:

Also, if you're not running over 14mm of valve lift a roller rocker probably isn't really necessary. If you set up a pushrod head correctly, the rocker geometry is better than a lot of other heads.
Click to expand...
I think the real advantage is that they are ratio matched sets, stock are all over the place.

My thoughts were to utilize the ots units, seems the some American stuff offsets and shaft bore are close enough with the appropriate shimming, and then make the pedestals as a one piece structure to make it more rigid. And since they are large market things, two sets of rockers come in around 400$, so really they could easily be right around the YT units, but with some aftermarket support.

www.speedwaymotors.com

Platinum Series Shaft Rocker Arms - Chevy 1.5 Ratio

Any top quality engine you look at will have shaft type rocker arms on it, whether its NASCAR, NHRA or Bonneville racing. The reason is they are the strongest, most reliable rocker arm money can buy. These include fully machined aluminum rockers, premium centerless ground shafts and needle...
www.speedwaymotors.com www.speedwaymotors.com
 
Last edited:
Sounds good to me.

Yella Terra is 1200aud incl shipping to NL.
Then crappy taxes shit easily over 1000 euros totall.
So if we could give it a try with some DIY shit I am game for it!

Original rocker arms give also more pressure on the cam itself causing also wear there. I have seen several cams coming out worn.

Andddd the ratio is also nice to have a bit more lift why not! And it looks fancy, spiffy moderny pantsy
 
vintagewrench said:
This is the solution we use to lube the roller and pin for our aluminum rocker arms.
Road race and road tested for 1000's of miles with no issues or seized rollers.

View attachment 22519
Click to expand...
This is the way. Most v8 rockers are oiled through squirts from the pushrods. Modifying a v8 rocker without a direct oil hole from the shaft to the roller tip is a baaaad idea.

It’s interesting to see you running a bolt (g10!) instead of a stud and nut as well (I just figured out who you were :) )

Who makes that rocker kit?
 
Small block mopar run through shaft oiling like the b20. A custom set could also run the jet to the roller tip rather than a funnel.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_6915.jpeg
    IMG_6915.jpeg
    498.7 KB · Views: 2
culberro said:
This is the way. Most v8 rockers are oiled through squirts from the pushrods. Modifying a v8 rocker without a direct oil hole from the shaft to the roller tip is a baaaad idea.

It’s interesting to see you running a bolt (g10!) instead of a stud and nut as well (I just figured out who you were :) )

Who makes that rocker kit?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the good words about this method of feeding oil to the rollers, it ends up directly on the pin and roller where it is needed.

Other than ARP, we don't have a good source for high-strength studs, and in this particular case, the rocker arms aren't going to be taken on and off all the time, so there are no worries about wearing out the bolt-hole threads in the head. Using a valve spring pressure twice the stock Volvo specs, so the grade 9 bolt is an upgrade to be on the safe side, and they only cost 97 cents apiece.

Our vintage race shop has no CNC-equipped machinery, so making these in-house would be time-consuming. We had another machinist who designed these rocker arms make a couple of sets for us. If he can supply us with more of them in the future, we may offer them if anyone is interested, and he can deliver more of them.
 
Last edited:
Don't all roller rockers pressure feed oil to the roller tip? I know the T&D rockers I have do yet they still seized. Does drip oiling work better?
oiler-1.jpg
 
hiperfauto said:
Don't all roller rockers pressure feed oil to the roller tip? I know the T&D rockers I have do yet they still seized. Does drip oiling work better?
Click to expand...
Ian, This is a screen shot from a high speed video of a set of these rockers in operation at about 2000 rpm. You can see how much oil flows down the passageway from the top of the rocker. It then flows down the edge of the slot the roller is located in and builds up as a meniscus above and behind the roller (there is very little clearance at the back of the slot) which coats the OD of the roller. Their is enough end play between the edge of the slot and the roller sides which allows the oil on either side of it where it also builds up a meniscus and then flows down to the pin and lubricates it.

Don't ask me what this looks like at 7,000 + RPM but it I do know that it works fine on the race track. I'm going to run the set I'm installing on the 1800S on both the road and at two VSCCA race meets in August and September. One is a really tough hillclimb and the other is sprint races at Lime Rock, and I'll report back on how they worked out later.

3-9.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top