Big Chiefs?

Bring lotsa $$$$ and I'll do almost anything.....

 

I am also old school 427 man...I would love to see some photos of these stands welded together, but no one seems to have any...HELP...

Sonny's has a 1 piece bar design...but will not sell or install it unless you buy heads from him...HUH...I just don't get it...revenue is revenue in my book...

Are Jesel rocker stands made out of better material now???

Thanks,
Mudwrench

 

Rockers

Call Jeff Fowler. Fowler Engines. He's in Ohio 1-614-258-2924 Thats the latest number I have. Don

 

Welded rocker stands

Send me your e-mail address and I will send you some pictures of my rocker stands that I welded together. I have Alan Johnson Billet Olds Heads but they should be similar.

 

buckhunter@cmaaccess.com

Thanks....

 

Can you send me some pictures too? ttotobono@msn.com

 

Jesel and T&D stands are mild steel. Quest racing quoted me $500-600 to make tool steel exhaust stands. The later Jesel stand comes with a long Torx fastener and looks better but we still bent them. The one piece Jesel stands are the only ones that fit Big Chiefs. The Sonnys stands are for their 14.5 heads I believe. I think the one piece stands are the way to go if you don't mind throwing $1200 at it.

 

Jesel quoted 29 hunnered and you gotta send your heads in.

 

I think I have four sets of 427's welded together. I will take some pictures this weekend and send them off to you. Not a real big deal, just get some Chromoly strap about 3/4" - 1" wide and fit and weld. Not really rocket science. I have some welded on just the tops and some tops and bottoms. I was thinking that at first, the tops and bottoms were the only way to go, but just the tops and a wider and thicker strap have been great. Lost a trans and stuck the throttle at 11,400 and the valvetrain stayed happy.

 

Overkill69:
Did sonny give you a quote of 1200 on some one piece stands for the 14 degree Pontiacs???

Wannabe:
Don't let me down...I really want to see what you have done...Tig welding... I assume???

Thanks,
Mudwrench

 

Mudwrench, Jesel quoted 1200.00 for one piece stands only..no rockers. I don't think anybody else has a one piece stand. PM me if you want pics of my welded Chief stands.
Mike

 

Just welded some Chevys'. The jessel saddles are made out of hot rolled mudalloy. I ended up brazing them!

 

Doucet Sold Me On A Set Of Them Brodix-sonny 14.5 Degree Heads After Fighting Some Big Chiefs. The One Piece Rocker Deal Is The Only Way To Go. Much Easier To Pull The Heads And Work On, Not To Mention Stronger. A Real Nice Head

 

Shawn: Are you still running Sonnys head...If I remember right you were running the 427 Pontiacs also???What all did you tear up on them???

Brazing...I am a welder by trade...Brazing I am not sure about...
I was considering maybe some Low Hydrogen with just a touch of pre heat...
Not much of a Tig hand either...

 

Shawn runs the AJ 481X billets stuff now. He had Dart Big Chief's and then Brodix 2005's after the Darts. Never had any valvetrain trouble with any of them that wasn't self induced! Some of the older Jesel rockers had problems with the bearings on the shafts but the newer stuff works fine. We use T&D on just about everything now. If you keep the valve sizes small enough so they don't touch in overlap, don't thin and weaken the aluminum around the guides, and keep good springs on the heads they all will make plenty of power without trouble.

 

Mudwrench:
silicone bronze with argon
not brass with acetelyne

 

I had trouble with the older Jesel's on an 18 degree Big Chief. The offset rockers side load really bad and end up chewing into the body. I made a simple plug to hold the rocker body and was an easy machining process in the lathe to counterbore the bodies and install the flat roller thrust washers. I have the Torrington bearing numbers as TOR NTA916 for the bearing and TOR TRA916 for the hardened race washers. These were $2.55 each for the bearing and .88 for the washers. Purchased from Tri-State Bearings 317-924-3287
They also have the IKO YB912 and IKO YB910 for the shaft bearings.


Tom

 

Howdy....

Just starting out with a set of 14 degree Big Chief Solids... What would be most likely to cause rocker problems apart from geometry as allready stated, revs or lift? What would be max lift and revs to stay in a safe area? I have a Crane R-288 cam that came with the engine .810 lift on inlet and exhaust dynamic compression calculates around the 150 psi range any thought as to how well that cam would suit that head. 526 ci, Kobelco 14-71...

Cheers Pete

 

Big chiefs

there's a lot of good info in these posts and would like to pass on some things we have experenced.we currently run 12 degree profilers,solids,a good idea unless you want to mill the water heads every year.run manton 7/16 .165 wall push tubes,450lbs seat pres.@ 9600rpm,haven't had much luck with offset lifters,run centered morrels,with T&D offset rockers.like all the other posts,the tune up is critical.will push out head gaskets in a heartbeat.(right Zombie).We currently run a brodix block but have run big M's,would stay away from bowtie because of the bottom end.INDY has manifolds for tall or short decks.we use longer stand bolts on the T&D keeps them from pulling out.Solid spread ports are a little more costly,but so is the billet stuff.hope this helps in some small way.thanks ITA,overthehill

 

Bbc

We've picked up about 1000hp since this thread started..lol. Same 540 14 degree with a psi D screw now.
The exhaust is the weak link. Run a small exhaust valve and conservative timing to keep cylinder pressure reasonable.
Our 904 offset lifters have worn out the lifter bores but still working, knock on wood.
The chevy will pull a LOT of gear ratio. Try to keep the rpm at 8500 max. I'm not convinced it needs to rev higher.