santino04

Went to do oil change today found the end of a c-clip stuck on magnet. Pulled the valve covers and suprise c-clips missing on some rocker ends and not on others all in total 9. I found bits and pieces of what I can maybe say is total of 4. Im guessing the rest are sitting in oil pan. What should I do replace the rockers completely with different brand or try to find some heavy duty c-clips and replace them all. What about the possibly remaining 5 clips I hear most people just end up leaving them in the oil pan and not dropping it. I tried draggin a magnet and fishing them out other possible ways but no luck........should I just leavem in there and hope they work them selfs out in future. Harland Sharp rockers by the way....never thought I would have a problem but people say LS1 chew through rockers like crazy. 700 PM Here in Chicago hope to pull all nighter if I have to.

ss rally red

iTrader: (8)

Who did you buy your HS's from? If it was Nate I know he will help you out.

santino04

No I purchased them from a member brand new still on original packing and everything......LS1 Speed installed them with my cam build.

ss rally red

iTrader: (8)

I would check with HS directly, they have been around a LONG time and I would bet would help you out. I have had mine on a year this month, but my car is not a DD and has maybe 4K on it since the install, but it has made about 25 passes at the track. Hope it works out for you.

AdamSS

iTrader: (3)

seems like there is a lot more problems with HS than say, Yella-Terra rockers...
See what Nate from Nasty Performance says...he seems to be quite experienced in fixing that HS mess...

Edit: Also, Nate is local (lake in the hills) so just give him a call tomorrow

Racehead

That's bad news alright. Personally I'd be too concerned about those metal pieces in there to leave them in there. Alot of work to get them out though

santino04

Harland SHarp has some bad *** customer service I will tell you that! Called them this morning and talked to Randy.......I guess they are finding that some trunions or retainers rings (tryin to remember) werent made the right size or something and its causing the retainers to be to tight then heat up because of the increase in friction and crack. Right away he said try to find as many pieces as possible and not to worry to much about the ones that got down in oil pan, most likely they will be picked up by the magnet, oil pump screen, or filter, they will eventually work them selfs out. He said the retainers are actually safety precaution in case the trunion or the shaft breaks if I remember correctly. He said if I wanted and needed the car on the rode you can run them without the retainers as it will cause no bad. He then told me if I didnt need the car running take the rockers out pack them up with all bolts and everything send them in with what mods my car has (for R&D I would think) and he will inspect the bodies, change out the trunion, retainer and all, and supply all new mounting hardware also and ship next day air before Christmas Eve. I was like SWEEET, thats what Ill do then I can be sure that these rockers have the right parts. I definitely dont wanna take a chance and with my luck I get another brand new set that has the same problem so Im reusing the rocker bodies I have.
Also contacted Nate from Nasty Performance. I wasnt here when he called but from what my father says he said basically the same thing Randy did. Thanks to both, great customer service from both guys!!!!!

leaftye

Did Randy say if there's any way to inspect a set to find out if it has the problem? I have a brand new set still in the box, and I want to make sure they're good before installing them.

ls1 1990 VN

Me also i have a set sitting at Auckland airport that i got from Nate,

CAT3

iTrader: (9)

Try using a magnet from an old harddrive, strongest magnets on earth really! Hold to the bottom of the pan (helps if there is a little oil left in the pan for gliding) anyway, drag it along the bottom of the pan towards the plug hole (yes I said plughole!). The HDD Magnets are very strong be prepared for a very hard pull! Good luck.

Charlie

santino04

I tried the magnet trick already off of a huge *** speaker that thing was strong as a ****. To no avail but did use my extending pocket clip magnet to scoop a few more out .

Not sure guys how to check if you may have bad set, its all trial and error with performance parts you know.....

Blktie8

iTrader: (1)

I wonder what to do now I have them and so far all is fine.
But do we all have a time bomb waiting to take out a nice low mileage c5 corvette (MINE) or a nice camaro
ls1 street rod
They better get their S!@#$% together
Soon
Their 40 years in business is at stake "NOW"

frodo84

iTrader: (11)

Do you have a contact number for them? I would like to ask about the ones I have also.....thanks.

santino04

The contact number is 440-238-3260 and then ask to speak to a tech or the tech department. I spoke with Randy and I guess there are 4 others guys that work with him.

Blktie8

iTrader: (1)

I sure would like to hear back from them also
I might have to give them a call
Keep this going ,I would like a response from Jeff at Harlan sharp
John Welch

99'Formula

iTrader: (7)

All I know is I work at a shop and have had two incedents of broken rocker arm bolts and 1 of the c-clip. All of them are Harland Sharp. Happened to the same customer in two consecutive weeks. Both of his cars are H/C cars and never had a problem unitl he put the Harland Sharps on there. He now has the stock ones on there and has no problems.
Just FYI for all Harland Sharp owners or people looking into them.

santino04

A simple post like that got me thinking! I get the rockers back and go to install them also with the warning from Harland to check my heads spec to make sure I dont have a bad GM pair. It so happens that the roller tip was grinding into the rocker body bad and I didnt notice that due the frustration of the retainers. So I do that visually, with a straight edge, a couple of small measurements and seems everything is lined up good. I start thinking about bad heads and pull the stock rockers out and they look mint.

Hmmm, so I say F it, go with the harlands all setup and button everything up, start the engine up and I hear some ticking tapping whatever you wanna call it just like normal but for some reason myself being all paranoid this week it seems to loud to me. I know its supposed to sound like sewing machine but after all the problems Ive been through I wanted to double check. I pull the covers and Im like sh*t these thing dont look right and I see some metal filings and dust. Im like look at those roller tips and they are doing the same thing chewing into each other and the pin for the roller tip on the outside of the body had a nice shiny wear spot who knows.

After all this crap I go back to the stockers and what do you know! These things ran so quiet I dont know why I swapped them out, it seemed like my engine was running a hell of alot better also, smoother if you will. I think it was the rockers all this time. All in all I hate to say but I dont think I will go with another Harland Sharp rocker after this. Every engine differs and so do mods, I guess what works, works, and what doesnt, blows up! I did have my brother a mechanical engineer for Jernberg (design and make automotive parts, mainly the big 3) take a look at them and he thinks there are some flaws in the design (technical jargon).

Thanks for all the help guys and thanks for that last post! There should be sticky made that says.... If all else fails with aftermarket parts, go back to stock and double check! BUT TRUE! Thanks Again!

leaftye

I'm about to take a look at mine. Would you post a pic of the troublespot you're talking about?

99'Formula

iTrader: (7)

Hey no problem! You don't wan't to f up your motor. I don't think Harland Sharp is to far off. I just think they need to take a hard look and re design their rockers. One of my buddys at the shop has a 408 and a 300 shot of NX and he is still running stock rockers. He used to work for GM and now works here and he said the stock rockers are the best stuff GM has made. So if your questioning if your stock rockers will hold up, theres your proof.
Ike

PREDATOR-Z

All well and said, but all parts have a fail rate, and the stock rockers do to.
Maybe we should think at best of both worlds.
A HS kit that puts new trunions and C clips on the stock rockers to prevent bearing spills, and as mentionned Nate has those.