Sorry, It appears that you your head stud holes are stripped out in your above picture

 

joserpaq,
You stated you had to really wrench on the rocker studs to remove them. That's normal. Can't remember exact torque specs off hand for Brodrix but usually 65 lbs + of torque is not uncommon.
You never really mentioned the length of the pushrods. Can you get a brand and part number off the side. Better rods even state wall thickness, diameter and some may even have the length printed.
It would help diagnosing a lot if it truly is a stock length rod. SBC std rods are 7.8 inches. With aluminum heads you are looking at around 7.9 inches for proper geometry. Anything beyond standard 7.8 inches is considered custom rods. And that is part of the reason for price increase.

Normally you would need a large caliper to get an exact length measurement of your current rods. But with the ends missing the best you can guess at with a ruler will have to do. See if it looks like about 7 & 3/4.

Not sure what that tan goop is in the rocker stud holes. Maybe somebody's attempt to glue it. But in the future Loctite Blue . . . . .will do.

 

the push rods are stock 7.8” and they did leave a wear mark right in center of the valve stem so I think the length is good. Yes I did use blue loctite when I put in the studs.

I ordered these pushrods:
https://www.jegs.com/i/Edelbrock/350/9630/10002/-1

And these self alining roller rockers:
https://www.jegs.com/i/Lunati/638/15345-16/10002/-1

I pulled the pan to clean it out and ordered high volume oil pump to make sure I have enough oil circulating.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/SES-3-60-08-002

I appreciate all the feedback guys.

 

Stop-stop-stop ordering. Those are std length SBC rods. You have aluminum heads.
You are not understanding that with aftermarket aluminum heads you MUST check the pushrod length, or you could do damage as shown.
As stated before, the rocker stud pad is higher than stock. That changes the pushrod length. But by how much? Measure. How?

A rod length checker is about $22. That's what you should be ordering. You have to get the valvetrain geometry right.

edit:
Those self-aligning rockers are for use with NO guide plates. You do realize that.
Are you giving up your guide plates after you ordered moly rods which are for guide plates?
Without guide plates your rocker studs will thread in farther. Could be a good thing or could be a bad thing if they bottom out in the hole. And w/o guide plates this could change the pushrod length yet again. You need to slow down with the credit card and think things through.

 

Thank you. I’m not installing until I’m 100% sure. I’m going by the wear marks I have on the valve stem with old push rods. If the current wear mark is in center of the valve stem isn’t that what I’d want to see with the push rod length checker? I know the deck is higher but I’m using 1.6 ratio not 1.5. I thought that’s why the stock measured correct. Am I wrong?

Thank you for the help!

 

You got me there. But it's really complicated geometry to get everything spot on.
I believe the ratio geometry is measured from the fulcrum (stud) to the tip of the rocker. Such as 1.5 or 1.6 or 1.7.
Therefore the pushrod length, once its spot on will not be affected by which ratio is installed. If there was an affect, then all the people that swapped from 1.5 to 1.6 would have to change pushrod length. Sound logical?

Myself, not a big fan of 1.6. It's an old hot rodders SBC trick to get more valve lift. But that ratio may affect wear & tear on the valve guides more than stock ratio.
Myself, I would rather order a cam with more lift to begin with if that's the desire.
However, I did cheat a little with the Comps 1.52 roller-tip rockers.

 

Do the pushrods bind on the guide plates? Check during the full range of motion.

 

They didn't bind and I don't see any wear on the pushrods from the guideplates. After all the comments I'm thinking it may have been a combination of things. I set the lash with just 1/2 a turn so that combined with the weaker stock rod may have been the issue. Best guess.

 

In post # 1 and photo # 2 you can see wear marks on the rods from the plates. That's perfectly normal.

It would be tough to check for binding of the rod & plate relationship when the valve begins to open. You would not be able to budge / rotate the pushrod from the valve-spring pressures.

If you have a Harbor Freight nearby, see if they have a long reach magnet. You see all those cylinder head drain-back holes in post 4? I would run a magnet down each and every one of those holes looking for metal fragments in the lifter valley. But first, reinstall 8 pushrods so you don't accidently pull out a lifter. One hand on the pushrod, one hand on the magnet, go fishin'.

 

The magnet is a great idea. I was able to get a telescopic magnic and pull up the lifter without removing the intake so I did check them all for any damage and put them back in the same spot one at a time.

 

One other thing. On large port / runner heads, they are hogged out so much that the rocker stud is exposed in the runner. Happens more with 200 cfm or larger heads.
Only certain brands and certain CFMs had this issue.

Those studs need to be sealed. That is likely what the tan colored goop is on the threads. If you don't seal the stud, oil can actually be pulled from under the valve cover and burned in the cylinder.
So, instead of Loctite Blue, I would use a sealer on the studs. Obviously, you can't see if the studs are exposed with the Intake installed. So, error on the safe side.

 

You, are a skilled surgeon.

 

great catch. I did see that one of the threaded holes is sealed at bottom while the other is halfway open to The Valley below. At first I thought it might have busted off because it’s not the fully drilled through. It’s just half the hole. I noticed it’s the same on all cylinders.

 

If one of us was clever, we could get the part number off the head and see what CFM flow it is. Just out of curiosity. And the likelihood that the stud hole is exposed in the runner.

They hog out those runners to get every last ounce of flow & H.P. More flow, more power. But to me, that is poor craftsmanship to grind out too much metal.

Every aluminum head has some type of flaw. Either studs exposed, or too thin of valve spring pockets. Or a valve cover ledge so short that pooling oil leaks out the cover or head bolts blocking the oil return holes. Or, no accessory holes drilled & tapped on the ends for ALT, A/C

 

these are brodix IK180’s so not very large that may be why they are there. The hole that’s hogged out is on each intake runner. Used think that would not be good for smooth airflow.

 

if your wear pattern is centered then the geometry is what it is. If it was off the wear pattern would be overly large or off center.... The complicated math and how to videos are rocker arm specific...My Comp Cams rockers wouldnt work with the 90* to base method.....And some Brodix heads are designed to be similar to stock specifications unlike some of the other performance heads with raised exhaust and thicker bases made for machining to spec.

Yes old hotrodders used 1.6 rockers from stock Ford heads. Now they are made specifically for Chevy applications up to 1.7 for small blocks and 1.8 and larger for big blocks. If they get too large then you may rub on stock cylinder heads and they would have to be enlarged....I ran 1.6's with no issues on aluminum heads. You are not out of bounds with what you are doing, just made a bad decision reusing worn parts. Replacing the broken parts will straighten you out

 

Those are stock one piece cold roll steel pushrods......and you installed rockers with metal that is much harder but I don't think the body is heat treated.....at any rate, I think this is a lack of oil issue compounded by soft pushrod, and a 1.6 rocker which puts more strain at the ball/socket at the rocker........are they wore at the guideplates too? Guideplates are heat treated.......and for that reason it is important to used premium hardened pushrods......
I think I would get the new pushrods and mock it up.....then pull the distributor and prime it......see if you are flooding oil for sure. Roll the engine over a few times as your buddy is priming......it is possible to do this yourself if you can pat your head and rub your belly at the same time Lol.....
Brodix heads come helicoiled unless the did away with it.......
Your rocker stud broke because it slipped out of the ball and forced the retainer to crash against the guideboss.....inspect that valve/seal/guide closely....you will need to remove the spring.....used compressed air or the rope trick.....
It is not unusual to have a stock pushrod length with a 1.6 rocker arm as it pulls the pushrod closer to center stud....and changes the geometry....that and now the rocker has more "arc" or swing.....
Most all aftermarket heads are through on the top of the intake port......I have a pair of 180 Dart Pro-1's on the bench right now and they are through....just slightly......
Trend makes the .080 wall pushrods for most everybody...Manley, Comp, Trick Flow, etc.......Trick Flow seems to have the best pricing and availability......
Whose rockers are those?

Jebby

 

Thanks Jebby. The rockers I had installed were jegs roller tip 1.6 ratio rockers and I'm replacing with new Lunati voodoo 1.6 ratio full rollers. I don't have much wear on the pushrods from the guideplates just the ends. I have the oil pump primer and was planning on priming with my drill to see how much oil I get out of the top of the rockers before closing it up. The engine is an L48 that still has good compression and my oil pressure with 20W-50 was around 40psi at cold start up and ran 25-38 psi while driving as temp so I ordered a high volume oil pump to hopefully improve on the oiling just a bit. I know that won't address any wear issues but I'm looking to get a couple more years out of this motor before upgrading to a 383. I've done the rope trink in the past to replace the springs so I'm familiar but what should I look for on the valve/seal/guide during inspection?

 

Use the existing trashed pieces for a check. Check the clearance at the bottom of the pushrod guide plate slot as the cam goes thru the range of lift. 1.6 rockers move the pushrod cup closer to the rocker stud. If the guide plate slot is not deep enough(or the head pushrod openings too small) , you will bind the valve train enough to cause damage. I do use those cast steel roller tips with stock pushrods all the time. Never an issue. I HAVE had to break out the grinder to open up the head casting for pushrod clearance especially with larger aftermarket pushrods.

 

Going back to post 4 photo, unless you cleaned those heads with a shop towel, they are way too dry for my liking. Should be some puddles here & there.
My money is lack of lube top side as the culprit.

When you prime it later with the tool and a HD drill, that will tell you what's going on upstairs. You can jog the IGN key every so often to get all 16 lifters oil fill hole lined up with the oil galley in the block. That will build up some pressure up through the pushrod, hopefully. Don't expect a gusher come out of the pushrod, but there should be a dribble at all 16 rockers eventually. Also, slotted rocker ***** do seem to keep the rocker arm well lubed as opposed to std.

I think this is just a case of a rocker running dry, got really hot until the metal stud fatigued and failed. And if that is the case, the lifters did not supply oil for some reason.