Our recommendation would be to first ensure that all your ball joints and control-arm suspension bushings are in good shape. If they are not, fix them first. Then add a good set of shocks and a larger front sway bar and bushings, and seriously consider better tires and wheels. You didn't mention that area, but the quickest and easiest way to improve handling would be at least a 16x8-inch wheel package on all four corners with 255/50VR16 performance tires. We don't have the room to get into tires, but BFGoodrich, Firestone, Yokohama, Kumho, and a long list of others make performance street radials that will radically improve handling and braking, and contribute greatly to an overall positive driving experience.
'CC Quickies
The Chevy Spectrum
Among the Wangers collection that we couldn't show you without a 180-degree lens is this unlikely pair of Chevys. It doesn't get much more diverse than a drag-inspired Pro Street '65 Chevelle parked next to a Can-Am road racer. One thing they both have in common is big-block Chevy engines. From there, the comparison gets a little complicated.>>>
More Info
Air Ride Technologies; Jasper, IN; 812/482-2932; ridetech.com
Global West Suspension Components; San Bernardino, CA; 909/890-0759; globalwest.net
Hotchkis Performance; Santa Fe Springs, CA; 562/907-7757; hotchkisperformance.com
Rocker Alignment
Gary DeMichelle, Lompoc, CA: I sent a set of small-block Chevy 305 TPI cast 416 heads out for a valve job. After torquing them down and putting the intake on, I went to put the rockers on and give them a preliminary adjustment. I found that once I set the preload on the No. 5 intake, the rocker would slide off the valve tip and want to slightly ride on the 90-degree edge of the tip. I tried other rockers, then looked at the stud and the pushrod. It turned out the pushrod guide in the head would not let the pushrod align the rocker directly over the valve as designed. Just looking at the pushrod in relation to the rest of the valvetrain, I could see it was out of alignment. This was a good running engine with 100,500 miles on it.
'CC Quickies
The Lump
We thought this lump on the floor was made of cement, but it was actually formed by years of tiny drops of paint applied by the guys who work at Santini Paint and Body Werkes. Pete Santini plans to harvest it eventually and polish it into a sphere.>>>
Since this was just an experimental engine for my car, I finished the assembly and fired the motor up on a stand just to see what would happen. It made a clacking loose rocker noise and started to mushroom the valve tip. This was definitely not a problem previously. When I called the machine shop, they assured me that I got the same set of heads back that I delivered to them.
Since, again, this was an experiment, I ground out the pushrod guide enough to align the rocker properly and made my own pushrod guideplate that bolted to the rocker stud. It has worked great for approximately 400 miles but looks like a bad accident waiting to happen. I do have a roller cam motor that I hope to have more success with.
Do you have any information on the Trick Flow 23-degree heads, PN 30300002? Also, do you feel it necessary to go to the larger-diameter springs on a 305 TPI if using a roller cam with 0.431/0.451-inch lift and 196/206 degrees of duration? I am going to try and squeeze this cam into my motor with the 416 heads.
Jeff Smith: The photograph you included with your e-mail, Gary, illustrates nicely how you solved this problem. Your approach was absolutely correct. There should not be a lot of side pressure on your homemade guideplate, and it looks pretty beefy, but it would still be worth checking from time to time. Also, did you use a hardened pushrod? And this brings up the question of material for your homemade guideplate. Excessive wear may be an issue here. My guess is you did not want to pull the intake and cylinder head in order to install screw-in studs and guideplates, which is understandable.