Rebuilding a Rover V8 rocker shaft (howto)

When you order parts either individually or as a 'kit', you'll notice rocker arms labelled 'RH' and 'LH'. This does not refer to the rocker as such, but to the location of the pad which operates the valve, either the left or right hand side of the rocker. You need both on a rocker shaft.
The pads orient away from the pillar/pedestal - the part which is bolted to the cylinder head.

The rockers do go on to the shaft in a particular orientation, but this is not relevant to which bank or side of the engine you are working on.
RAVE tells you there is a notch at 'one o'clock' however aftermarket ones might not have this.
To work out which way around the rocker goes on to the shaft so that oil flows correctly, the oil hole in the shaft should point down, the oil hole in the rocker should be on the opposite side.

Excellent, I don't have a V8 at present but, am determined to have another at some point

kermit_rr said:

The rockers do go on to the shaft in a particular orientation, but this is not relevant to which bank or side of the engine you are working on.
RAVE tells you there is a notch at 'one o'clock' however aftermarket ones might not have this.
To work out which way around the rocker goes on to the shaft so that oil flows correctly, the oil hole in the shaft should point down, the oil hole in the rocker should be on the opposite side.
View attachment 260494 View attachment 260495

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Scope for some lightening on those rockers

So what did you actually do wrong?

J

Datatek said:

Scope for some lightening on those rockers

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Not if they are britpart, cheese is lighter than cast..

Flossie said:

Not if they are britpart, cheese is lighter than cast..

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LOL

I am building my heads back up on my V8 and was checking rocker shaft orientation as mine don't have the makers at the end of the shafts. Looking at the above photos and the text I am now thoroughly confused. I would appreciate if someone could put me out of my misery and clarify the oil hole locations.

My understanding is that the oil holes in the shaft are facing downwards and towards the valley. However from text above it states these face downwards (agree with that) but the rocker holes are opposite. This is where I am confused. Given the hole in the photo shows what I assume is the oil hole behind the socket of the push rod and not behind the pad. This surely would mean that the oil holes are on the same side of the fixing bolts as the pushrod socket which is the valley side of the shaft. Hence b oth oil holes are on the valley side of the shaft.

As I say I am very confused and would appreciate clarification from a knowledgeable member.

Thanks

Wheres the bloody photos?

Did you pay attention when you removed them

The rocker shafts can only be built one way so both are the same as built on the bench

Mark Piercy said:

Wheres the bloody photos?

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Further up

As to the photos I am referring to those at the beginning of this thread. If the oil holes are to the valley then the fourth photo on this thread which shows the rocker arm with the pad end the same side as the oil hole cannot be right. The second photo shows the oil hole behind the pushrod ball socket which would mean the oil holes are opposite each other but that would mean the pad was into the valley.

The text reply from Datatek states the holes should be on opposite sides which to me means that the oil hole for the shaft are not facing the valley or the pads are operating by the pushrods!!!

As to noting when I took it apart, that is what I am checking now as the complete shaft and rocker were kept in one piece and marked how they came out so I know which shaft was on which side and which was the front of the car. I could have put them back as they came out but I was checking everything as the anomaly of text v photos has confused me to ask the question. Were they correct when whoever put them in originally.

Anyway I assume I would have had problems of noise and wear if not correct.

Thanks for responses to date.

The kermit_rr reply regarding both being the same on the bench does overcome the problem its just that I can see if I hadn't marked which came from driver and passenger sides the wear match on the pushrod sockets and pushrod balls ends may be different. However I did note which side so should be all rosy in the garden. Many thanks.

You can replace the pushrods without replacing the rockers so i don't think wear patterns is a problem

Thanks for help, much appreciated.