rocker spindle installation

E

Evan

Full member
Location
Texas
I'm doing an sf head. I have everything. I am a little unsure about rocker spindles. They are marked as they came out & in baggies & I also took pics of each one of the tips before I removed them. The spaces on the spindle shaft ( or quarter moons whatever u want to call them ) have to be congruant to slide on the head studs. As hard as it was to extract the spindles off I do not want to have to take them out time and again. Is there a way to be sure? Like use a bar to measure (though they would be in so tight I don't know if you could spin them)? Or would there enough space to where you are close enough to refit the head?
And then I refitted the valves. I haven't fuel tested them yet. Unfortunately I lost track of the springs as I oiled them as to where their positions were seating into the head. All valve springs are in their original slots. But Is it Ok if they are unside down or crossed over from their original positions? Haven't done the cam yet.
Too much paronia!
 
Evan said:
I'm doing an sf head. I have everything. I am a little unsure about rocker spindles. They are marked as they came out & in baggies & I also took pics of each one of the tips before I removed them. The spaces on the spindle shaft ( or quarter moons whatever u want to call them ) have to be congruant to slide on the head studs. As hard as it was to extract the spindles off I do not want to have to take them out time and again. Is there a way to be sure? Like use a bar to measure (though they would be in so tight I don't know if you could spin them)? Or would there enough space to where you are close enough to refit the head?
And then I refitted the valves. I haven't fuel tested them yet. Unfortunately I lost track of the springs as I oiled them as to where their positions were seating into the head. All valve springs are in their original slots. But Is it Ok if they are unside down or crossed over from their original positions? Haven't done the cam yet.
Too much paronia!
Click to expand...
It's better to put things back where they came from but don't worry about the valve springs. It would have been a good idea to renew them.
The cut outs in the rocker spindles align with the holes in the head for the long studs, no more complicated than that if I remember? There's a screw slot at the end of each spindle to help you align them. They shouldn't be that tight. Heating the head before fitting will help.

Paul
 
Definitely heat the head - you had so much trouble getting them out that heat is essential (and MUCH easier) for fitting. You just look down the stud holes while pushing in the spindles and once the cutouts are visible make sure they align with the stud holes. It really is as basic a head build as you can get.

Once they're in don't forget to check for sideplay between rockers and head - surefire ticking when running if there's too much sideplay. I personally don't like shimming them as the shims are likely to be VERY thin (and they're fiddly to fit) - I grind the shoulder off the spindle to allow the pin to go that tiny bit further into the head - but that's not an easy task without the right machinery (I mount my angle grinder onto my lathe toolpost).

You could measure any freeplay with a feeler gauge or dial gauge and have an engineering workshop do a quick grind on the spindle shoulders. or you could just leave it as is and live with any ticking (mainly noticeable at idle).
 
There is no right side up for the valve springs and as they are all the same they can go anywhere. It is best if the rocker arms and spindles go back in the same positions but again, it isn't going to necessarily cause problems. I have assembled motors that came in boxes with all the parts mixed up and they have been fine. As Paul says, it would have been good to fit new springs, they are probably around 50 years and lots of miles old. As said, heat the head so that you can still handle it, oil the pins and holes and try to get the pins in fairly quickly before they heat up. Have your extractor tool handy in case you get something crossed, and be careful with the last mm or so, as they can be too tight or have too much end-float on the rocker arm. Tap bit by bit until there is just a bit of free-play, not binding, go too far and you have to extract them a tad. Hopefully you don't have to fit shims. The alignment for the studs doesn't seem critical, but if you start with the slots vertical they don't tend to twist as they go in. I remember that your head had extremely tight rocker spindles, unusual in my experience.
 
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