Stock 440 Rocker Arms on Aluminum Heads?

[dave73chally]

Was reading an article on hotrod.com and they built a 500+hp 440 using eddy aluminum heads and stock rocker arms. Is this common and/or recommended? I've been sold on buying PRW or Comp steel rockers for my 512 build but this is intriguing as I have a set of stock 440 rocker arms sitting in my garage.

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/1412-how-you-can-build-a-stout-537hp-street-440/

There reasoning for using them was this "The factory Mopar valvetrain is a shaft-mounted non-adjustable stamped-steel arrangement. Although it seems inadequate, the rockers are very light and have good high rpm capabilities."

What do you think?

[Strawdawg]

Long as they don't have a lot of miles on them and you take the time to measure the correct pushrod length and order them, they should work fine.

[dave73chally]

FWIW, i'm running a lunati hydraulic roller cam, model #60312

[Chryco Psycho]

I see no problem with this assuming a few things , if the tips are worn they may travel father than before & I have had them make a clicking noise as they go past the limit of previous travel / wear point .
 Spring pressure is much higher with Lunati Fast ramp cams so the rockers may fail just from load but they will last for a while .
 Pushrod length is critical has to be 100% correct & the valve tips have to be dead even or you will need a different pushrod for each rocker so that each lifter is preloaded correctly as there is no adjustment possible .

[dave73chally]

When you say they will last for awhile, how long are you estimating? If it will be a scenario where it's a ticking time bomb, I will just spend the money now and buy better rockers to play it safe.

[Chryco Psycho]

How long is a piece of string ?
 It would depend on the quality of any individual rocker , rpm seen , , they could last years or minutes

[Strawdawg]

In other words, if they have 50,000 miles on them, your piece of string is pretty short

[dave73chally]

Gotcha. I have no knowledge of how many miles or how these were used in the past so I'll most likely go with a new set of PRW's.