Crane Gold Roller Rocker arm set, Opinions?

[33 IMP]

So, I just received my Crane rockers today. The rockers themselves look very nice. The adjusters
are extended somewhat, but I think I have a correct set of push rods. My question to those of you
that have ever owned a set of these is: The shafts are hard-chromed and have about a thousandth
worth of wear on the bottom, but these shafts resemble a banana! If you put a straightedge on the
top of the shafts, it rests on the ends, and there is a 1/4" gap in the middle! WTF? Are these supposed
to be like this? The shafts measure at 0.872dia.

Stick em in a press and straighten them.

 

[zyzzyx]

I cleaned them and polished the shafts with some emery paper and re-assembled them. Put them on the
heads with the stock hold down hardware. Not happy with the locations of the rockers over the valves!
Read some articles and decided to buy a set of 440 Source hold downs w/Hardware. Put them on and boy,
what a surprise! They located the rockers dead nuts over the valves. The only thing I have to do is grind
a 45 degree chamfer on the intake side of the outboard hold downs to clear the valve covers. They just
barely interfere with the cover sitting flat on the head. $90.00 well spent.

 

[451Mopar]

The shafts are supposed to be straight. Owner likely snugged down the retainers one at a time unsted of each a little bit at a time.
Have the Crane Gold 1.6:1 rockers on the old 360 engine. Never a problem, but engine has a pretty mild cam and springs.

 

[zyzzyx]

Mine too. .509/.509. These came up and couldn't pass them up. Sure don't want to spend $1000.00!
I pulled the shafts down easily.

 

[66Satellite47]

I used the old Crane gold roller tip rockers with the intake offset in the mid '80's. Over a thousand runs with a couple solid roller cams .660 to .690 and a solid mushroom .645. I ran them at 7000 plus depending on which motor. They were not bushed, just anodized aluminum. A couple started to show a little wear on the bore after those thousand runs. Scotch Brite cured that. I replaced the adjusting screws quickly after breaking a few. Went back to The Isky screws, never a problem with them.

 

[GTX JOHN]

I would not bother trying to straighten them = when you torque downw
the shafts that will pretty much straighten them. I see that a lot on used
stuff and it has never caused any unusually wear. Torque them down gradually
and all at once.

 

[m79ded]

Had a set of 1.6 for many years and extremely pleased, I did eventually have a failure on 2 of them. If anyone has any spare gold 1.6 it would really help me put I need a left and right and would complete the set I have. Thanks very much

 

[GTX JOHN]

I have had several shafts that were bent over the years, but the
hold downs draw the back down straight especially with a good aftrermarket
hold down. For a street car or something without high spring pressure, I would
not be concerned.

 

[GTX JOHN]

I still have several extra sets in the shop!

 

[gooser]

gtx john how much for a set of 1.5syou can pm me

 

[GTX JOHN]

$475. complete with everything shipped at
my expensive. This would be for the best low
use set inspected carefully by us.

 

[1968rt]

Someone torqued the middle bolt first instead of doing each bolt in increments.

 

[gooser]

gtx john pm me your info

 

[GTX JOHN]

Someone torqued the middle bolt first instead of doing each bolt in increments.

It is my experience that when the entire shaft has been torque down properly the
runout on the shaft is eliminated. The shaft has been drawn down to the stands and
is straight at that point. I have never seen any unusual wear whatsoever originating
from minor unloaded shaft issues. I have been using the Crane Rollers since they became
available many decades ago.

 

[GTX JOHN]

gtx john pm me your info

I forgot (old) did you want big or small block cranes?

 

[gooser]

big block

 

[Sinitro]

My experience with mopar big block Crane rockers was a nightmare..
They were not hardened properly and the tips wore through.. Contacted Crane @ SEMA and brought some of the worn rockers as an example. Talked with one of their engineers and he blew out screaming in the SEMA booth denying the rockers had a quality problem...
Claiming I had an oiling issue... I wasn't looking for any $$, just having the rockers replaced with good ones..
Note that this happened about 6 months before they went Chapter 11 bankrupt.
I left SEMA, chucked the Crane rockers into the dumpster and bought some Harland Sharp rockers, installed them and they have been running fine now for many years...

Just my $0.02...

 

[GTX JOHN]

big block

I will look when I am bsck in Nevada next week!