Brand new Harland Sharp roller rockers

[Steve V]

T&d from champion the correct ones

 

[earlbrown]

I was wondering how they put 1.800 and 1.600's in there and not have to spread them out around .150" or so. Looks like they did it anyway and just let the end user have stock rockers that don't match up.

I wish I had a set of those heads here. It's be easy enough to move the rockers around and send the print to Harland Sharp.

 

[Grand_87_national]

Just a quick testimonial, here. I bought a set of these from Earl and I am pleased with the transaction. Good communication, quick shipping. Tracking info came in almost immediately. Hard to imagine anyone around can compete with his price on these units.

As for the rockers themselves, they are a big, burly, and seemingly well built unit. Note that these aren't just a drop in and go swap, but they are not difficult to make work, either. You need to clearance the "shoulders" of each rocker shaft tower because these rocker bodies are bigger and hang down farther than the stockers. Not a difficult job, but with the heads on the car, the rear tower on the passenger bank is tough to reach and even tougher to see on the backside. I covered my entire engine with a trashbag and cut small holes to slip it over the towers, then wrapped duct tape around each opening to help seal it (works pretty well as long as you've cleaned the oil off the towers so the tape can stick). This will keep debris at a minimum providing you use a vacuum and/ or a magnet to clean up before slipping the trash bag off. Screw your fasteners a few threads deep into the holes of each tower to keep shavings out. This was the hardest part, but the material did cut quick and easy with a double cut burr. Use a good 90* die grinder and you can reach everything.

New pushrods will be needed, measure the length and determine preload to keep the geometry happy and more importantly, line up the oil journals. Harland Sharp is very specific about this step, requiring no less than 2, but no more than 3 threads of the pushrod adjustment cup exposed on the bottom side of the rocker body. I used approx. .03225 (5/8 of a turn, with 1/2 turn being .025) of preload and it seems perfect. Valvetrain noise is minimal (though it does seem a little noisier than stock, and when I asked about this on the Facebook page, multiple sources confirmed that a little more noise from roller rockers is normal). Mine ended up right at 2 threads exposed with a 8.600" long, Trend performance .080 wall chromoly pushrod, which came from Full Throttle Speed and Performance, I think they can get them in .025" increments.

Obviously, taller valvecovers will be needed as well. I use the TA performance "low profile" covers and they work just fine.

Give the assemblies a good oil bath prior to installation. I used my factory passenger side valvecover, flipped it over, and dumped my oil in there, letting the assemblies soak, one at a time.

I did a little reading on these forums, and discovered a few issues. There were a few posts taking about the fit on 8445 heads. Folks taking about having to move shims and spacers, buy new spacers, machine the provided spacers... one person said that the spacers have to be moved to the correct location, and that the correct location is at the rear of the engine on each side, for the larger spacer, and the front of each head for the smaller spacer. This is false, you can simply measure your shaft towers and you'll see that there is more room between the front and center towers on the passenger side, and more room between the rear and center towers on the drivers side. This is where the larger spacers go, and that is exactly how mine came assembled. I did reach out to Harland Sharp to confirm, and they replied that this is correct. I can't see any reason why anyone would need to take the assemblies apart and add or subtract shims, machine the supplied spacers, etc. They seem to be right on the money out of the box, in my case anyway.

 

[1972chevy]

Just a quick testimonial, here. I bought a set of these from Earl and I am pleased with the transaction. Good communication, quick shipping. Tracking info came in almost immediately. Hard to imagine anyone around can compete with his price on these units.

As for the rockers themselves, they are a big, burly, and seemingly well built unit. Note that these aren't just a drop in and go swap, but they are not difficult to make work, either. You need to clearance the "shoulders" of each rocker shaft tower because these rocker bodies are bigger and hang down farther than the stockers. Not a difficult job, but with the heads on the car, the rear tower on the passenger bank is tough to reach and even tougher to see on the backside. I covered my entire engine with a trashbag and cut small holes to slip it over the towers, then wrapped duct tape around each opening to help seal it (works pretty well as long as you've cleaned the oil off the towers so the tape can stick). This will keep debris at a minimum providing you use a vacuum and/ or a magnet to clean up before slipping the trash bag off. Screw your fasteners a few threads deep into the holes of each tower to keep shavings out. This was the hardest part, but the material did cut quick and easy with a double cut burr. Use a good 90* die grinder and you can reach everything.

New pushrods will be needed, measure the length and determine preload to keep the geometry happy and more importantly, line up the oil journals. Harland Sharp is very specific about this step, requiring no less than 2, but no more than 3 threads of the pushrod adjustment cup exposed on the bottom side of the rocker body. I used approx. .03225 (5/8 of a turn, with 1/2 turn being .025) of preload and it seems perfect. Valvetrain noise is minimal (though it does seem a little noisier than stock, and when I asked about this on the Facebook page, multiple sources confirmed that a little more noise from roller rockers is normal). Mine ended up right at 2 threads exposed with a 8.600" long, Trend performance .080 wall chromoly pushrod, which came from Full Throttle Speed and Performance, I think they can get them in .025" increments.

Obviously, taller valvecovers will be needed as well. I use the TA performance "low profile" covers and they work just fine.

Give the assemblies a good oil bath prior to installation. I used my factory passenger side valvecover, flipped it over, and dumped my oil in there, letting the assemblies soak, one at a time.

I did a little reading on these forums, and discovered a few issues. There were a few posts taking about the fit on 8445 heads. Folks taking about having to move shims and spacers, buy new spacers, machine the provided spacers... one person said that the spacers have to be moved to the correct location, and that the correct location is at the rear of the engine on each side, for the larger spacer, and the front of each head for the smaller spacer. This is false, you can simply measure your shaft towers and you'll see that there is more room between the front and center towers on the passenger side, and more room between the rear and center towers on the drivers side. This is where the larger spacers go, and that is exactly how mine came assembled. I did reach out to Harland Sharp to confirm, and they replied that this is correct. I can't see any reason why anyone would need to take the assemblies apart and add or subtract shims, machine the supplied spacers, etc. They seem to be right on the money out of the box, in my case anyway.
View attachment 326284View attachment 326285View attachment 326286

Are those aluminum heads?

 

[Grand_87_national]

Are those aluminum heads?

Nope. Stock 8445's.

 

[BigDuke6]

Just a quick testimonial, here. I bought a set of these from Earl and I am pleased with the transaction. Good communication, quick shipping. Tracking info came in almost immediately. Hard to imagine anyone around can compete with his price on these units.

As for the rockers themselves, they are a big, burly, and seemingly well built unit. Note that these aren't just a drop in and go swap, but they are not difficult to make work, either. You need to clearance the "shoulders" of each rocker shaft tower because these rocker bodies are bigger and hang down farther than the stockers. Not a difficult job, but with the heads on the car, the rear tower on the passenger bank is tough to reach and even tougher to see on the backside. I covered my entire engine with a trashbag and cut small holes to slip it over the towers, then wrapped duct tape around each opening to help seal it (works pretty well as long as you've cleaned the oil off the towers so the tape can stick). This will keep debris at a minimum providing you use a vacuum and/ or a magnet to clean up before slipping the trash bag off. Screw your fasteners a few threads deep into the holes of each tower to keep shavings out. This was the hardest part, but the material did cut quick and easy with a double cut burr. Use a good 90* die grinder and you can reach everything.

New pushrods will be needed, measure the length and determine preload to keep the geometry happy and more importantly, line up the oil journals. Harland Sharp is very specific about this step, requiring no less than 2, but no more than 3 threads of the pushrod adjustment cup exposed on the bottom side of the rocker body. I used approx. .03225 (5/8 of a turn, with 1/2 turn being .025) of preload and it seems perfect. Valvetrain noise is minimal (though it does seem a little noisier than stock, and when I asked about this on the Facebook page, multiple sources confirmed that a little more noise from roller rockers is normal). Mine ended up right at 2 threads exposed with a 8.600" long, Trend performance .080 wall chromoly pushrod, which came from Full Throttle Speed and Performance, I think they can get them in .025" increments.

Obviously, taller valvecovers will be needed as well. I use the TA performance "low profile" covers and they work just fine.

Give the assemblies a good oil bath prior to installation. I used my factory passenger side valvecover, flipped it over, and dumped my oil in there, letting the assemblies soak, one at a time.

I did a little reading on these forums, and discovered a few issues. There were a few posts taking about the fit on 8445 heads. Folks taking about having to move shims and spacers, buy new spacers, machine the provided spacers... one person said that the spacers have to be moved to the correct location, and that the correct location is at the rear of the engine on each side, for the larger spacer, and the front of each head for the smaller spacer. This is false, you can simply measure your shaft towers and you'll see that there is more room between the front and center towers on the passenger side, and more room between the rear and center towers on the drivers side. This is where the larger spacers go, and that is exactly how mine came assembled. I did reach out to Harland Sharp to confirm, and they replied that this is correct. I can't see any reason why anyone would need to take the assemblies apart and add or subtract shims, machine the supplied spacers, etc. They seem to be right on the money out of the box, in my case anyway.
View attachment 326284View attachment 326285View attachment 326286

Nice write up...thanks

 

[Grand_87_national]

Nice write up...thanks

Not a problem. Hopefully, it'll assist some folks that might be on the fence about making the switch.

 

[Turbo Archie]

View attachment 326286

That picture is scary!!..

..

 

[williambavila]

steve those pictures look really deceiving. if you put the correct half moons where the bolts go then retake the picture will they line up correctly?

 

[williambavila]

View attachment 326416





That picture is scary!!..

..

That's some real quality work right there. smh

 

[Grand_87_national]

That's some real quality work right there. smh

I guess I don't understand. What "work" are you referring to? I hadn't even marked or touched the shoulders with a burr, yet. Literally just a pic of how I kept debris out of the engine while grinding them. If you have a better way of doing it without pulling the heads, post it up. I was just trying to help some people by showing them what worked for me.

 

[williambavila]

That's some real quality work right there. smh

I guess I don't understand. What "work" are you referring to? I hadn't even marked or touched the shoulders with a burr, yet. Literally just a pic of how I kept debris out of the engine while grinding them. If you have a better way of doing it without pulling the heads, post it up. I was just trying to help some people by showing them what worked for me.

It's hard to convey emotion via text, it was a joke. I've had to do it also.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[Grand_87_national]

It's hard to convey emotion via text, it was a joke. I've had to do it also.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Fair enough.