ROCKER ARM Torque

aaamillertime · 10-03-2006, 12:41 PM

Can anyone tell me what the torque should be when reinstalling rocker arms on a 97 Silverado. 350cid?. For whatever reason I can't find the specifications in my haynes book.

Also how would you make sure that they are at the appropriate torque when some will be pressing on the valve springs more than others creating more pressure?

Thank You!

Riche · 10-03-2006, 03:03 PM

Any Hanes type manual will cover the procedure. You have to set the valve that is closed. The easiest way is to turn the motor till one valve on the cylinder is open. Then adjust the other. Tighten till you have no up or down slack in the pushrod (be careful the lifter plunger is easy to depress, then turn another 1/2 turn. There will be a little bit of dispute over what is the right method. It all boils down to what works best for you. I would recommend setting them dry then doing it again after you get the motor running. With the motor running you are less likely to mess up. While running loosen rocker till taping is heard. Then slowly tighten till tapping goes away. Turn 1/2 turn.
Good luck. When in doubt do what the manual says!!!!!

silicon212 · 10-03-2006, 03:47 PM

There are no torque specifications on these nuts because they are not designed to be torqued! The rockers on the SBC are adjustable. Here's the way I adjust rockers on the SBC. I ripped this from another post I wrote earlier, just because I am lazy and don't want to type it all out again, when the first writing was perfectly fine! ...

When adjusting the valves, ensure the #1 piston is at TDC (top dead center). Adjust any valve that is not being pushed upon by the camshaft by spinning the pushrod back and forth with your left hand (if you're right handed, right hand if you're left handed), while slowly tightening the rocker arm nut with the other hand. You want to tighten the nut until the pushrod just stops spinning, then 1/2 turn more and no more. Do this with all valves that again are not being acted upon by the camshaft. Once done, turn the engine one complete revolution and tighten the remaining valves. Ensure that all rockers are tight and then rotate the engine until #1 is at TDC _and_ both intake and exhaust valves on #6 are rocking. This is the #1 power stroke. When you reinstall your distributor, you want the rotor pointing toward the tower that will be #1 on the firing order.

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