Broken rocker bolt, what to do?

[andrewdruiz]

I might as well ask you guys as well over here

I was inspecting my valve train the other day, so I checked the pushrods, checked to see if the springs didnt have any stress cracks or anything, etc. It all went by fine until I put my first rocker bolt back on I set the torque wrench to 22 ft/lbs started going in, got a little hard to turn, and SNAP! I broke the bolt

I had no bolt sticking out to get some pliers on there, so I just started to drill/tap. After a while I successfully retapped the aluminum heads with a slightly larger pitch and got a new bolt that was the exact length and pitch I needed. The rocker itself was slightly opened up on the inner part where the head of the bolt goes on because it was a 13mm and my socket wouldnt clear it even when it was fully shaved down, so I reinstalled it, put it down to 22 ft/lbs and I'll probably be starting the car back up tommorow, my question is- Will I be fine? Or should I just get a good used condition head (241, stock), and I was also wondering when you put the rocker back in its place, where should the pushrods seating position be? If I were to set it in the middle of it's hole, then my rocker wouldnt sit completely over the valve spring (About 70% over it) so how do you guys set yours? Thanks!

-Andrew

[ninobrn99]

Honestly, Id get a new head. Its better to do it right than to have to worry about a rocker losing the bolt, coming loose under the valve cover, smashing that vavle into the piston and now you need a new motor You can get a set of bare heads cheap!! like 150-200..maybe less. The stock rockers are self adjusting, but they shouldn't be sticking further than the center of the valve stem. The roller should be centered. double check the pushrod to see if its bent. If your not sure, pull another PR from another cylinder and see if it does the same thing.

[brokenls1]

Its better to do it right than to have to worry about a rocker losing the bolt, coming loose under the valve cover, smashing that vavle into the piston and now you need a new motor

Explain to me how the valve would smash into the piston without the rocker bolted down and actuating it??? . Nope, do not see it happening

[SLED28]

The only problem I see is the new bolt not being strong enough and breaking it while under load

[andrewdruiz]

The only problem I see is the new bolt not being strong enough and breaking it while under load

Yes, that worried me as well. I believe the stock ls1 rocker arm bolts are 10.9, and these had an unknown strength rating... I also threw everything together and fired it up when I retapped it, and it ticked. Either way I got a pair of 241 heads fully assembled and whatnot, my head is off and i'm just waiting on new gaskets/bolts

It's also a good thing that I popped off the head, you wouldn't imagine the amount of aluminum shavings that were all over the lifters & retainer case! It took me almost one hour to clean every last bit of aluminum & suck it out with a vacuum! I would hate to imagine what would happen IF I drove the car with all those shavings going around in the engine Good thing i'm swapping the head now

-Andrew

[brokenls1]

Explain to me how the valve would smash into the piston without the rocker bolted down and actuating it??? . Nope, do not see it happening

[ninobrn99]

after reading it, i worded my scenario wrong, but now i dont even remember what i was trying to say..oh well.