How long does my rod need to be?

[harshman]

I have had this valve ticking in my 396 BBC and I can't figure it out. I swapped my solid lift cam of unknown make to a 292H Comp. At the same time I installed new roller rockers, lifters, chain yada, yada and what not. HOWEVER, I never changed pushrods nor did I check the length as I have no idea how to. Frustrated, I started taking the arms off and to my surprise I noticed that the nuts were scraped on the sides.

So... do I need different rods? How do I check to find the proper length of the pushrods? This ticking is driving me nuts and I am about to dump the whole motor asap (or when funds permit an LS2).

[Matt@RFR]

How long does my rod need to be? Heh. I find that if you leave them smiling, it's long enough. :)

Pushrod length you say? At half lift, the rocker arm contact patch (or roller if so equiped) should be in the middle of the valve stem. This is eyeballed from the front or rear of the engine.

To find the actual correct length, you'll need a pushrod length checker. It's essentially a two piece pushrod that is mated with threads..just mess with the thread engagement until the length is right and record that value. These are available from pretty much everywhere.


and to my surprise I noticed that the nuts were scraped on the sides. Can you clarify this?

[Chad-1stGen]

Is the new cam a solid lift cam as well or hydrolic?

The thread title made me LOL.

[harshman]

hydrolic