When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I just put a Lingenfelter roller cam in my 89 with 1.6 rockers. Lift is about 540. Can I use my stock valve covers without grinding down drippers?
Are they roller tip or full roller rockers? If the top end is still all apart it would be a fairly quick check. I'd pull all the spark plugs if installed and place your new valve covers on the heads (you could do this without gaskets) and just start the bolts by a few threads each. By hand have a helper make 2 complete revolutions with the crankshaft and you observe for any movement of the valve covers. You could try some clay or play doh on the inside of the valve covers to check how much it's compressed....like plasti-gauge on bearings, but I would rather leave the covers loose to play it safe. From all the reading I've ever done, I'm 99% sure as soon as it's the 1.6 ratio drip tab removal is necessary....but maybe on full roller rockers only. Also are they narrow body and self-aligning or full bodied and guide plates? Drip tab removal with a Dremel cut-off wheel is pretty quick and easy (wear a dust mask for sure), if you do in fact have full roller, full body and guide plates you may need to remove a little material off of the sides of center bolt columns. You're just going to have to "science" it out a little bit. I also wrap the breather in Gorilla tape to help keep the dust out of it, when done with material removal, thoroughly flush the covers out with water followed by compressed air. If you're capable of the cam swap you just performed, you can knock this out, start to finish, in a couple hours give or take easy!!! Sorry it's not a yes or no answer, but with all the cam/rocker arm combinations possible, it's not so "cut and dry"! Be mindful of keeping track of #1 for firing order hopefully your pushrod length/material, valve spring installed height/coil bind #s and the like have all been taken into account! Worst case scenario, I believe they do make spacers you could install under your valve covers to raise them. Good luck👍