For once, I decided to post about something other than getting boned by purchasing Chinese parts...

A couple weeks back, I pulled the rocker shafts in my engine to put some oil restrictors in the feed holes... managed to have a pushrod come off the adjuster ball and chew up the underside of the rocker.

It was impossible to see if the pushrod was really on the adjuster or not, due to the adjuster screw sitting so far up in the rocker. Way up in the rocker; you could see 4-5 threads above the adjuster nut. Seemed like a lot to me, but what do I know - this is my first solid cam MoPar, and I don't know what these are supposed to look like. The guys who built this are pros, and I'm not.

(side note... the valve lash was right on when running the cup of the pushrod against the bottom of the rocker - well, until it'd run ten minutes. How weird a coincidence was that?)

Damage report: gouged up rocker, and put a groove in the edge of the cup on the pushrod end where it'd rubbed against the adjuster screw.

A quick call to Smith Brothers (who made the pushrods) got one replacement on the way. Easy as pie; just call 'em up and give them the name of the shop who assembled my motor. Took 'em about 90 seconds to find the file on my pushrods. Showed up in a couple days. Yeah!

Anyway... I remembered that my eBay-score Harland Sharp rockers were offset for either MW or B1 ports (I'm running Stealth heads, but got the rockers at a SCREAMING price). Unfortunately, I couldn't remember which offset they had. So, I called Randy Jr. at HS and made arrangements to send the rocker to him for evaluation.

When he got the rocker, he told me that it would actually be okay to run with the spring loads I have (about 540# over the nose). Randy also informed me that the rocker was a custom piece - 1.7:1 with .350" offset - not something they had on the shelf, but that he'd make me one, if I didn't just want to re-use the old one. To heck with it, I tell him to go ahead and make a new one, and send the old one back for good measure; it doesn't hurt to have backup pieces.

He also asked if the adjustment screw was where it had been while running in the car. Yup.

Turns out I was right after all. Well, time to call Smith Brothers again... "uh, hi... Bill Nielsen again. So, do you guys shorten pushrods?"

So, I send my sixteen pushrods, plus the one extra with the torn up end to get shortened, and order one more extra so that I'll have eighteen. The way my life is going, I feel better about having two spare pushrods (for $12.xx each). Let's just say I've been getting a little hard luck out of the system lately...

Once again, Smith Bros comes through; my pushrods get here in a few days (including postage back and forth to Bend, OR), a day after my brand new, custom made rocker arrives.

Moral of the story: when things are going crappy, it's REALLY comforting to have top notch folks like Harland Sharp and Smith Brothers take care of you.

For what it's worth, I'm a bucks-down, no-name guy, not even a repeat customer (my engine builder bought the pushrods, and I picked up the rockers second-hand). But, I know exactly where I'll be buying pushrods and rockers from now on!

-Bill

That is awesome. I am glad to hear that.

I have always had EXCELLENT service from Smith Brothers. FAST and excellent products.

I have had good customer service from Harland Sharp too, but could not make their rockers last in a Solid Roller W-2 Application. They replaced a set of rockers for me without much problem. But the second set did not last either.

Smith Brothers pushrods are quality stuff.

Bill, nice post. I have Smith's as well. THey do it right the first time.. Any pics of the engine ?

Hi Rick, will post pics as soon as I get the MESS cleaned up from the fire. Been working 3rd shift and moonlighting doing some remodeling on top of that. Money or time - I'm real lucky when I have either; never seem to have both together!

I guess I should have made this a TRIPLE good guy alert... it's been a couple weeks since I ordered my Firecores, so memory of that transaction kinda' fell through the cracks. Mind like a steel sieve...

I'm going to replace my NGK BPR series plugs w/ some BCPRs (same plug w/ 5/8" hex) for ease of wrench access when I put the wires on.

As far as HS rockers not lasting on the W-2... well, I guess there are some applications that are too severe for 'em. But I'm nowhere near the league where I need to call Jesel or T&D. I expect that the Harland Sharps are every bit as strong as my junk will require. And then some.

But the original point of the post was to point out how nice it is when you don't have to go through a dealer, because of the personalities of the manufacturers, don't have to be a 'big name' guy to get good service, or be placing a five-digit order! It's great to do business with guys who'll treat you right, not because of who you are, but because of who they are.

-Bill