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Okay... Looking for interest in Roller Rockers

LifeofReiley

Well Known Member
Hello all,

I wanted to check in with the RV guys and gals that like best performance out of their engines as well as less wear in the valve train area. Any interest in installing these jewels in your engine?

We run Roller Rocker Arms on my 320 and love them!! :) I'm pretty sure Mel Asberry runs them as well.

The rocker arms are the same for 540, 360, and 320. The rockers come ready to install. They open .012 thousands more than the OEM. This is just right for the engine, makes a Smoother Idle and More Power. The BIG plus... pretty much eliminates wear on the valve guides.

Feed back will determine production... and 1000's of engines already flying with these Roller Rockers.

Email me if you have an interest. :)

Best,
 
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If the price was reasonable I'd be interested. I used to a run roller cam and roller rockers on all my small block chevys back in my hot rod days and they worked great:D
 
Interested as well

O-360. Interested in price and pictures.
Thanks,
Paul
N694BP - reserved
 
Price

If the price is right, I and a lot of others are interested. IF the PRICE is HIGH, not as many of us will be interested.

I have one running engine in my flying RV and a SPARE engine waiting for me to rebuild it. At the right price, I would be in for TWO sets.
 
I installed my roller rockers in September of '94. Never a hiccup. Valve guides still tight.
 
Repsonse...

So far the response has been awesome... we can crunch the numbers now. As always, we are extremely cheap for the labor & cost involved. :)
 
Add me to the interested list. My experience is with small block Fords. Kills valve guide wear dead.
 
So how big a deal is it to install the roller rockers. This is different from roller lifters, obviously.

Where can I read all about it?
 
Hello all,

I wanted to check in with the RV guys and gals that like best performance out of their engines as well as less wear in the valve train area. Any interest in installing these jewels in your engine?

We run Roller Rocker Arms on my 320 and love them!! :) I'm pretty sure Mel Asberry runs them as well.

The rocker arms are the same for 540, 360, and 320. The rockers come ready to install. They open .012 thousands more than the OEM. This is just right for the engine, makes a Smoother Idle and More Power. The BIG plus is pretty much eliminates wear on the valve guides.

Feed back will determine production... and 1000's of engines already flying with these Roller Rockers.

Email me if you have an interest. :)

Best,

I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN A SET OF ROLLER ROCKERS FOR MY IO-360 ANGLE VALVE THAT I WILL BE BUILDING SOON. THANK YOU! DENNIS MCCRIGHT 936-443-3562
 
When you say "more power", how much is that exactly? I'm guessing you can quantify it somehow. If the price is right, I would consider a set.
 
I've always thought that the concept of Roller Rockers make sense, but don't know why, if they are such a good answer, they aren't all over the place. If the ones you are talking about have field history, like they are the same design, materials, and specs as what Mel has, then they'd have some field history, and I'd look in to them.

If it's a brand new design, I'd probably let them get some field history/time on them before I'd want to put them in an engine that I was going to fly IFR (or over inhospitable terrain) - but then, I am pretty conservative when it comes to my only engine....

Paul
 
Same Question

When you say "more power", how much is that exactly? I'm guessing you can quantify it somehow. If the price is right, I would consider a set.

"Bolt on" power increase? What is the theory behind it? Has it been verified by testing and validated by other sources? How much power increase? I assume that you are going to manufacture these, what plans do you have for controlling quality and assuring reliability? I am not asking these questions rhetorically to put you on the spot. Fresh from my Microlon experience I sincerely want to know the answers for what may be obvious reasons.

Bob Axsom

P.S. Is Mike Thompson going to use them?
 
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Interested in roller rockers

for wide deck parallel valve 360 with existing roller cam followers and also for a narrow deck 320. What is the plan? Thanks.
 
"Bolt on" power increase? What is the theory behind it? Has it been verified by testing and validated by other sources? How much power increase? I assume that you are going to manufacture these, what plans do you have for controlling quality and assuring reliability? I am not asking these questions rhetorically to put you on the spot. Fresh from my Microlon experience I sincerely want to know the answers for what may be obvious reasons.

Bob Axsom

P.S. Is Mike Thompson going to use them?

There is a bit of room to increase the rocker arm ratio, thus the valves can open further which would result in better flow numbers. The main advantage especially at higher ratios is that there is significantly less side loading of the valve stem/guide which helps with guide/valve wear.

I am definitely interested and was headed down the route of making a set myself, but I do have some specific requirements. They should have adjusters on them so each valve can be set to the same dry tappet clearance. This would aid in smoothness, and negate the potential need for different lengths of pushrods when fitting each rocker arm. Also no needle bearings!!
 
First Step...

The info and responses received helps me to complete my first step into the research phase of possibly bringing these Rocker Rockers for the Lycoming Parallel Valve engines back to the market. This design has a long running history. There's even quite a few 0-200 Contis sporting a version of these Rollers Rockers.

Thanks for all the responses!! Now to grind out more of the details and see if we can make the numbers work.
 
I've always thought that the concept of Roller Rockers make sense, but don't know why, if they are such a good answer, they aren't all over the place...
Paul

They are.

...Just not in airplanes so much - for all the same reasons other common automotive technology is not found in airplanes.
 
Is it this version...

The info and responses received helps me to complete my first step into the research phase of possibly bringing these Rocker Rockers for the Lycoming Parallel Valve engines back to the market. This design has a long running history. There's even quite a few 0-200 Contis sporting a version of these Rollers Rockers.

Thanks for all the responses!! Now to grind out more of the details and see if we can make the numbers work.

...being built again?

http://71.144.98.137/lycoming/roller rocker.pdf
 
Question, are you looking at a roller pivot shaft, or a roller tip, or both.

Who will be doing the actual manufacturing, will they be PMA ??

Thanks.

Interested also, and as with most others, cost defiantly a factor.
 
I personally didn't notice a power increase, but I really wasn't looking for one. My purpose for installing them was to reduce or eliminate valve guide wear.
 
Question, are you looking at a roller pivot shaft, or a roller tip, or both.

Who will be doing the actual manufacturing, will they be PMA ??

Thanks.

Interested also, and as with most others, cost defiantly a factor.

Roller Tip design, they would be made here in Texas in a Professional Shop. No PMA... nobody could afford or be willing to buy them after paying for the cost of the PMA paper, time and effort. I understand cost is a big issue, but we all understand AMU's in aircraft. The Rollers Rockers are CNC'ed 4140 and RC hardened. No needle bearings either. I must say again, this is not a new design for the Lycoming engine... there are many Lycoming engines flying with this design. There are also 1000's running in Conti 520's too. Due to the precision required to manufacture these jewels, it may not be worth it. Many people swallow pulling and/or replacing cylinder costs easier than coughing up an initial investment to eliminate the problem.
 
great post. i am liking my thunderbolt engine from lycoming even more now. it has about 650 hours now with rollers and flowed heads. thanks for the info on the valve guides. i didnt notice any power increase comparedto my previous o-360.
 
great post. i am liking my thunderbolt engine from lycoming even more now. it has about 650 hours now with rollers and flowed heads. thanks for the info on the valve guides. i didnt notice any power increase comparedto my previous o-360.

Ed,

I think you're referring to Roller Cam Lifters... different animal.
 
For those of you inquiring about POWER, please understand how the engine takes in fuel and exhaust the combustion. More intake... Better exhaust flow is what it boils down to. BTW, adjustable push rods are available.
 
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