Push Rod width

Are most guys running 1/2 on the intake side or running 7/16? I planned on 1/2 on the exhaust side but was curious about the Intake size.

 

I always remember what Terry Manton told me. Run the biggest rod you can, even if you have to grind to make it fit. I run 1/2" straight .250" wall on the exhaust and 7/16"-1/2" taper , .250" wall intakes. Manton of course. This is a chevy based engine so I have hollow rods.
Corey

 

Also might add that if you're running an older cam profile, you want the valvetrain to match what the cam was designed for. You won't see any power benefits by having stronger pushrods if the cam profile was designed with old head gasket smashers in mind.

 

I have the noonan heads. I can fit 1/2 in there. Double check double check lol. Appreciate you guys.

 

Noonan heads will support up to 9/16.

 

"I always remember what Terry Manton told me. Run the biggest rod you can, even if you have to grind to make it fit. I run 1/2" straight .250" wall on the exhaust and 7/16"-1/2" taper , .250" wall intakes. Manton of course. This is a chevy based engine so I have hollow rods."
Please correct me if i'm wrong, but....if you have a 1/2" (.500") O.D. pushrod, how can you have a .250 wall & it be hollow?

 

I used to be in the lighter the better club but I lost two engines from pushrod deflections and subsequent pushrod breakage. I was running 7/16" .168 wall Manton's in my BBC and they were deflecting over 3/8". That is with 048 Nextek springs and 8700 RPM through the traps. I changed to 9/16" .188 wall tubes and 049 springs and to my astonishment gained 10 MPH in the 1/4 from that change alone and solved the deflection issues. Bigger is better in this case.

 

Got me thinking also. They say .250 " on the build sheet but its actually .2075". The hole is .085" . So I guess its better to say they are .200 wall.

Corey