TA Performance

[gungeey]

Being the thrifty hillbilly hacker "mechanic" that I am, I tend to not outsource unnecessarily. Skepticism and scrutiny also play a part.  With a number of engine work processes facing me currently, I am especially budget conscious. 

Case in point:

 

ROCKER ARM SHAFTS for Nailhead

 

I am adamant that I keep original as possible. I want rocker tips. I want aluminum rocker arms. Not cast iron replacements. I could buy the tips for $90 with shipping. New shafts are 105 a set. Call it 200 spent so far.  But I am still stuck with worn rockers. 

 

TA took care of the whole thing for me.  They rebuilt the rockers by machining bronze insert sleeves. The cup where the push rod seats was somehow redone.  They even put an oil groove in the high wear area of the bronze bushing.  Installed new tips. Supposedly the assembly is also treated with some anti wear coating. Time will tell but for 334 plus shipping both ways for a total of $420 I thought it was a no- brainer.

 

It's not many machine services that meet my expectations. Admittedly it's highly difficult to exceed those expectations. TA sent me back a work of art a Buick guy like me might even consider borderline pornographic 😛

Steve in MA 9236

Edited May 18, 2023 by gungeey (see edit history)

[telriv]

Those bushings just weakened the rocker. DON'T use anything more than stock valve springs. Use STOCK pressures ONLY.

They ran some lapping compound in the cups & stacked them in place to help prevent them from falling out.

The new tip are about 3 times thicker than stock tips.

Good luck. 

T/A does do nice work for ALL the other Buick engines.

Again, just my thoughts.

 

Tom T.

[gungeey]

Nope.  They ground their tips to the original I sent them. 

 

Second picture is Prussian Bleu transfer from the pushrod. Dead nuts. 

 

And no reason to increase spring pressure on my stock work. 

 

This is my 2nd purchase with TA. Very satisfied. 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by gungeey (see edit history)

[drhach]

TA has been great the few times that I've dealt with them. The Machinist I used had nothing but positive comments as well. 

[NTX5467]

"Weakened"?  Possibly a bit when the initial machining was done, but after the new bushings were installed, they would stiffen things back up again.  How far from the original?  Probably not enough to really matter.

 

PLUS, with those new bushings, that makes those rocker arms rebuildable again, well into the future, I suspect.

 

Looks like great work!  Thanks for sharing!

 

NTX5467