I just finished installing the Crower 1.7's on my purple R/T (1,000
miles). Here are a few things to consider:
When you order, order part# 73656K, note the "K", this denotes kit and
contains the needed rocker studs. I ordered (plain) 73656 (as per the
tech desk at Summit Racing), and got only the arms and locks. This
caused me to have to place a new order for # 88416 studs. Probably a
little cheaper, too - but haven't yet checked.
It's quite a job to get the driver side valve cover off, lots of
maneuvering under hoses, wires, etc. Make sure to note where the studs
and bolts go on each cover - I made a diagram. Took about 30 mins to
remove them both. Disconnected the battery just in case.
Finding #1 cyl. TDC wasn't too bad, I pulled the spark plug to be sure
and probed the hole with a wire. At TDC, you should see the groove on
the balancer, NOT the drilled balance hole.
Rotating the engine 90 degrees to get the next cyl. was next to
impossible using the starter. Had to do it this way, though, could not
see how to get a breaker bar on the balancer without removing lots of
stuff. Yeah, once the covers were off, I reconnected the battery. I
got REALLY frustrated here - I finally ended up (not too scientifically)
using the ("jiggle") method in the next paragraph.
Went through the firing order one cyl. at a time. You should be able
to "jiggle" both of the stock rockers on the cyl. you are ABOUT to work
on - if not, you probably aren't on TDC for that cylinder. Remove both
bolts holding on the assembly, and remove the whole shebang. This will
be both rockers, both bolts, a link plate, and a pushrod guide plate.
Now install 2 rocker studs and torque to 20 ft-lbs. These are blind
holes (no water jackets), but if I'd had Lock-tite, I'd have used it.
Next, install 2 roller rockers and a poly-lock on each one. Then
tighten down on the poly-lock until all the clearance is gone (finger
tight is close) and give it a half turn extra. Now run down the allen
screw in the center of the poly-lock and tighten it good. Do this for
the other 7 cyls. and you're almost done.
Before replacing the valve covers, you must remove the baffles from
them (I know, these are supposed to be a bolt-on, ha ha). Just for
stupidity's sake, I almost got the pass side on before finding this out.
I used a cold chisel and hammer to break (tear, actually) the 8 spot
welds on each cover. Looks ugly on the inside, but you can't tell from
outside.
Before replacing the covers, I fired up the mill to make sure it would
run (hey, I had VERY little confidence on my TDC method). Ran like a
top - no clatter, no ticking, not even a check engine light! All in
all, took about 3.5 hours, but could take less if you know how to rotate
the crank 90 degrees at a time. Took it around the block, but couldn't
tell much, performance-wise. I'll G-Tech it this weekend (if it doesn't
rain) and post results soon,
Later,
Russ Selkirk
-- '96 Black Impala SS '85 Silver Monte SS '98 Amethyst Dakota R/T - Port Neches,Texas ================================= NOTE: Anti-Spam Address! Please reply to: RAS002@worldnet.att.net =================================
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:08:55 EDT