Rockers hitting Valve covers

[Jeff Dodson]

I hate to even ask this question, never had the problem before. I traded some Chrome Edelbrock Valve Cover to a friend for some ribbed Aluminum covers. He took them off because his rockers arms tapped the sides and he wanted regulars to paint to match the rest of the engine (327)

I put them on my 350 and the hit even worse, so bad I thought I had rolled the cam after adjusting the rockers and putting Synthetic oil in it. I tried doubling the gaskets and although it ran correctly,  the oil leaked bad out the back. I removed one set of gaskets and the leak stopped but ran horribly again. I have since bought the Half Inch valve cover spacers from Summit and everything is good. 

Question is, why are the rockers hitting the Valve covers. The friend with the ones I traded him said he could see where they were hitting inside them as well. I have never experienced this and always thought SBC VALVE COVERS were all the same and fit the same. They are hitting on the sides not top, so cam lift does not seem to be the problem 

[Leghome]

 always thought SBC VALVE COVERS were all the same and fit the same. They are hitting on the sides not top, so cam lift does not seem to be the problem 

I bought new valve coverss once and the measured about a 1/4" shorter than the old ones but Not close enouigh to cause any problems. My GM Performance stamped valve covers I just replaced with cast aluminum becasue the stamped covers would not seal on my new aluminum heads and the new ones were about an 1/8" shorter than the stamped ones. No problems with the aluminum hitting on my roller rockers and no leaks finally anfter fighting it most of last summer.

[420ponies]

If these are the Gold style (Thick)rocker arms, then yes, they can hit the covers. I don't know what springs ,lift you have, but the Comp Cam Roller  tipped stamped style work well.I used 1.6 ratio on the intake and 1.5 ratio on exhaust. Just make sure of the contact patch is more toward the "middle". I had to use the ultra Magnum Pro style on the BBC because of spring pressure at the nose(385 Lbs) and had to use the 1/2"spacer on my valve covers (Baldwin Motion) so they would clear.That turned into a different Brake Booster to also clear the covers? Dang Snowball effect!!

[Jeff Dodson]

4 hours ago, 420ponies said:

If these are the Gold style (Thick)rocker arms, then yes, they can hit the covers. I don't know what springs ,lift you have, but the Comp Cam Roller  tipped stamped style work well.I used 1.6 ratio on the intake and 1.5 ratio on exhaust. Just make sure of the contact patch is more toward the "middle". I had to use the ultra Magnum Pro style on the BBC because of spring pressure at the nose(385 Lbs) and had to use the 1/2"spacer on my valve covers (Baldwin Motion) so they would clear.That turned into a different Brake Booster to also clear the covers? Dang Snowball effect!!

MAAAAN, I definitely know about the snowball effect.... thank you, I'm pretty sure they are just stock, but I will be on the look out for 1.6 rollers. They do make a difference.  I put them on an 85 Chevy truck I built. I guess it's just they TRUENESS of the After market aluminum rockers. I did have a little CompCams ( 268 duration ) was a kit I bought years ago