Roller rockers on a budget

[herk402]

Went to put my rockers on today & came to the realization they were trash. Time for new!! I have a 68 350ci with pressed in studs. Can I go to a 1.65 roller rocker & if so what brand? I don't have a lot of money left in my budget. If the 1.65's are ok with pressed in studs is there anything else I should watch out for making this change.

P.S. I was thinking of the Comp Cams or Crane stamped rollers.

[herk402]

Went to put my rockers on today & came to the realization they were trash. Time for new!! I have a 68 350ci with pressed in studs. Can I go to a 1.65 roller rocker & if so what brand? I don't have a lot of money left in my budget. If the 1.65's are ok with pressed in studs is there anything else I should watch out for making this change.

P.S. I was thinking of the Comp Cams or Crane stamped rollers.

[M.Sides]

I have a '68 350 with casting #17 heads and tried to go with 1.65s a few years ago. Besides worrying about the studs pulling out, these heads don't have the clearance for the pushrods. The 1.65s will move the pushrod closer to the rocker stud. The heads can be clearanced, but I just went with a different cam to get the lift.
Good Luck.....

[slobrd]

My two cents worth. I've not heard of any direct comparison of a car's performance befor and after the rocker upgrade - especially a 350. No sligt on the 350. I'm running a 350 in a 68 4spd Lemans with 18 heads. The motor is so sweet and untouched that I can't bring myself to change anything for fear of upsetting the karma of 20 some odd years of intended operation. What I mean to say is that the factory Pontiac 350 gets a lot of credit in my book as is. Pontiac didn't put these rockers on the 350 motors with press-in studs and I'm not sure that the rockers will show a discernable improvement in performance.

I changed from the 066 cam with a 111 LSA (dies above 4500 with manifolds) to the 067 (113 LSA for more top end in a 4spd). Big difference. If you have rebuilt the motor I wouldn't worry too much about using the 1.65s. Rather I would go to a different cam and save the studs the stress. Another Pontiac cam is real cheap if your worried about the cost. If the motor is not rebuilt, I sure wouldn't expect much benefit from upgrading the rockers.

I guess this is three cents worth.

[herk402]

Thanks for the input. The motor is in the build process, in fact should be together on the 30th. Put a 068 cam in it & changed from the 2bbl to a 4 with a stock ponch manifold also RAIII Ex Manifolds. Thanks for the input-Any comments on Cam & ignition timing on the motor as described above? Thanks