warning to people using edelbrock e-street heads

[marty]

ok so i purchased a set of e-street heads back in august of 2009. i did not start using them until 2010 because i was in the process of my efi build but they where used on my freshly rebuilt 302 with a b-303 cam. ok so since i installed everything i have not been satisfied with how the valvetrain sounded. i was using summit brand full roller rockers that look just like crane, motorsports, etc. so i called edelbrock and they told me it could be the roller bearing backlash that i am hearing and to try changing them to maybe the comp cams steel roller tip rockers they might be quieter. well i did that and it got a little better but not all gone. now i know that they will be a little noisier than factory but this seemed a bit more than normal. well the other night coming home from with dinner i had a problem. i got a bang and extreme backfiring through the intake. i knew right away it was a exhaust valve issue. so i pulled the intake and the rocker cover and lo and behold found a rocker arm stud broke right in half. ok so i inspect things like pushrod, rocker, etc. for damage and find nothing everthing is good. my rocker geomtry is spot on could not be better and i am using 1.6 ratio rockers. so next day get on the phone with edelbrock and the guy seemed a bit to the point with me and agreeded to send me one stud. i asked questions if there was any problem with theses studs but was not trying to start a arguement with him just wanted some new studs. i am afraid now that more are going to do the same. the one that failed looked like it had a flaw in it. so yesterday i come home and there is the new stud open it up and it is different from the one i had. first thing is the hex part of the stud went from 5/8 socket size to 11/16. the part that threads into the head is one to two threads longer and the shoulder where the rocker fulcrum rides is a bit longer. and there is a small radius where the sthe shank meets the hex part and the original has none. so i called them back and i explain to the guy on the phone my situation and he puts me on hold and comes back and says they made a change. so i proceed to tell him he needs to send me 15 more studs which he does. so moral to my long drawn story is if you are thinking of running these heads or have them just beware to check the studs. if you have the 5/8 size hex head change them out. i have a funny feeling this is where my valvetrain noise is coming from. i bet these crappy studs are flexing or stretching with heat and such. i asked the guy if you already have studs made for the other type of heads you sell why would you use another type in these. he couldn't answer that question. i don't understand why companies build stuff and have a good success with it and build a new product and change to a different material and risk having failures and getting a bad rep. if you already have these made just use what you know works is the way i look at it. sorry for the long rant.

 

[DirtDonk]

Do you have it up-and-running with the new studs yet?
Any difference in sound?

Paul

 

[fastcarkenny]

i don't understand why companies build stuff and have a good success with it and build a new product and change to a different material and risk having failures and getting a bad rep. if you already have these made just use what you know works is the way i look at it. sorry for the long rant.

If you dont try anything new, how will you know if anything works better than something else!?? Sounds like they eventually got you taken care of after the initial failure though.

Hope that fixes all the issues.

 

[ponyracer]

There was a story I read, believe it was on my local drag racing forum, similar problems with the valve train, basically after several calls to Edelbrock the phone guy finally admitted that these were entry level heads and were designed to compete with the pro comp type heads and were not anywhere near the fit/finish of the rpm's/victor jr etc. He bought afr's and sent his down the road.

 

[broncnaz]

I'd agree there was probably a reason they are cheaper than other heads. While it kinda sucks sometimes you get what you pay for. Anyone out there should realize that the E street line is the bottom of edelbrocks line.

 

[marty]

no i do understand them being cheaper than their other heads but from what i was told before i bought them from edelbrock was they are their performer line heads just minus all the cnc porting by them. they also use lighter springs which is understandable. and yes they where trying to compete with the chinese brand heads. but why would they use another type of stud if they all ready know what has worked for them with the other heads they use. why have to stock 2 types of the same size stud is beyond me. i am sure it all comes down to price and that could only be the reason. but it probably is biting them in the ass now. as for my valvetrain noise i just got off the phone with my friend who builds race engines for a living and he informed me that my noise is more than likely my new motorsports lifters which are not like the old ones from years ago. he told me crane use to build the lifters and cams for ford motorsports which where very good lifters. he said who knows who they have building them now. plus he told me there is not many companies who build good hydraulic roller lifters these days. he told me he uses sealed power and has great success and believe it or not they are the cheapest also. he told me to try the old set i took out the original motor because he has not seen any of them ever go bad either. he told me the chinese market is really killing things in the engine part and high performance part business. he said you never know where the stuff is made anymore. stuff like edelbrock which advertises their stuff is made in america means nothing. it might be assembled in america just with chinese parts. i work with a great guy who is mexican and i always break his chops and say its hecho in mexico with chinese parts and he says know its made in china by mexican people. and we laugh.

 

[NYLES]

roller rockers make noise! some more than others all there is to it.

 

[Nightstick]

Spend a few bucks and get yourself some ARP studs.

 

[orangecrush4u]

I hate when stuff like this happens, it should be done once and right.

 

[marty]

Spend a few bucks and get yourself some ARP studs.

when i originally had called summit racing first to see who would handle warranty issues they where extremely helpful. they have great customer service but they told me to speak with edelbrock because they where told by edelbrock that they would handle all the warranty issues. but they did tell me to call them back to let them know how i made out with edelbrock. well i did the next day and i told them how the guy handled it and that i was not really satisfied with just getting one stud so they extended a customer curtisy and offer me a 20% discount on arp studs which i accepted but at a later date. just did not have the extra cash this week so maybe next week i will order them. i will just install all the new edelbrock studs to get me back up and running. i still don't trust the edelbrock studs. plus i think i wanna change the lifters out too when i do it. i do know roller rockers are noisy had them i just about everything i owned but this sounds just a bit more evident.

 

[gearida]

I have not experienced roller rockers being noisy. I wonder if your push rod length is correct.

 

[marty]

pushrod length is spot on. my geomtry is spot on but my friend that builds engines thinks it's more the lifter than anything. he has told me some stories about a great deal of hydraulic roller lifters that are showing up not just from one company that have been on the noisey side. he told me comp cams seem to bleed down very fast after shutdown and make noise upon restarting. and some other brands just seem out right noisey. he said the best ones for the money back in the day where from crane but they are now out of business. but he told me the sealed power ones seem to be the best for the money right now. he has built many and used them with great success. i think the economy is really putting the crunch on companies to out source some products.