Valvetrain question
 

I asked this on another forum, but no luck with any replies. So hoping some here can help me out.



I blame this question on my overly active dog. I had pulled my heads to change both of their head gaskets and in doing so i pull the rockers, pushrods etc and put them in a box(cut peach of cardboard) marking their location to put them back in those spots when putting the top back on. Well the dog jumped on the bench and knocks that over(after a bird of all things), so now the location of where i pulled these is screwed. So i have always been told put every thing back where you pull it when reusing..

So my quest is will it really hurt anything if i just put the rockers, rocker arm balls in any any location? I mean they don't seem worn out etc(look almost new really) and the engine was pretty damn clean inside. I plane to buy new pushrods just cause, but don't see the need for new rockers.. So any advice is well welcomed.

Thanks

You don't have much choice.
Hydraulic lifters make it more forgiving.
With solid lifters, it was preferred to re-install everything back to where it came from.
Even making sure the rounded washer was oriented into the rocker the same way it was before.
Do not know what year your working with.
But just today I replaced lifters in my 99 5.7L
I noticed the rocker stud nuts could go down more if tightened more.
So I found the right open end wrench to use as a space gauge between the rocker and the stud boss.
But I still re-installed all other components back to where they came from anyways.

Just check everything for wear and put it back together. I have done hundreds of these and never worried about placement,and never had a problem. Not all engines are this way however.

Its an 88 305. The rockers look good, but i have not scanned every single one yet since they where dumped on the ground. I will replace the pushrods just because.

Its not a very costly replacement for these parts, but just one i would prefer not to spend on unless i had to. Like the rocker kit (per rocker ket which is rocker, rocker arm ball, and nut) is 3.29 each at autozone, and the pushrods 1.99 each. which is almost $90 for everything when said and done. Pretty costly mistake for setting them on the end of a table like i did.

However i plane on pulling this 305 out in the summer and replacing it with an LS, but its a daily so need it to run until them:o

Thanks

throw it all back in, dont even buy new pushrods if they arent bent, just roll them on a smooth flat surface u can tell if they are bent this way, i have put quite a few together with mixed origins with no bad outcomes, now if it were valves u are talking about, then that would be a diferent story

Ya, the pushrods i run over a glass window and rolled like they should, so don't think there bent. They had some carbon on them that i cleaned off , but nothing a little tlc couldn't take care of. I didn't have a reason to remove the lifters, since it was only to replace the head gaskets.

I just grew up being told never mix them up, but here lately i been hearing people say it does not matter if you mix the rockers and pushrods up.

Thanks for info.

If it were me, I would spray some starting fluid thru the push rods to clean the out good. Then blow them out with compressed air.

yes that cant hurt things ^^^