Crane cams guide plate conversion kit install

3425 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by CarsByCarl, Jul 29, 2010

tiger

Discussion Starter · Jul 29, 2010

I got around to putting my crane cams guide plate conversion kit on my set of d3 heads. When installing the guide plates I noticed that you had to take them off if you ever wanted to take the head off. So I found a way to install them and not have to take them back off when removing the head.

All you need is an air grinder and a bit to grind cast iron with and take a little bit of material off the side of the raised section of the rocker mount. I do not see in any way that this was a problem mounting the guide plates this way. One thing I want to point out is that the conversion kit is about $130 and getting a set of D3 heads converted to screw in studs in $150 here. So on a mild engine where you don't want to pull the head they will work fine, but if you have the heads off and are getting them rebuilt then get them converted to screw in studs or buy the ford racing rockers made just for this from Lem.

notice the little bit ground off

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bosshoss

· #2 · Jul 29, 2010

So if I am understanding this correctly you ground part of the original pedestal away and shifted the guide plate to the left to allow you to get the socket on the head bolt right?

If so what did that do to the alingment or your rocker to the valve tip or the pushrod to the hole in the head?

dkp

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tiger

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 29, 2010

On the bottom picture, the guideplate on the right is the correct way that they are to be installed. The guideplate on the left is just flipped upside down. The rocker arm still lined up correctly and the push rod sits in the original position. I used 3/8 pushrods and 1.73 rockers.

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Falcon67

· #4 · Jul 29, 2010

My experience with those on a 351C is that it depends on the fastener. With ARP bolts, I don't have to mod anything or remove the guides to pull the heads. With head studs, the plates have to come off. So YMMV. Nice trick BTW.

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CarsByCarl

· #5 · Jul 29, 2010

tiger said:
One thing I want to point out is that the conversion kit is about $130 and getting a set of D3 heads converted to screw in studs in $150 here.

That would be cost of machine work + studs + guideplates, so more like $130 vs. ~$250-$300

Scorpion has been making pedestal mount roller rockers for this application for years. They're non-adjustable, so you have to use shims to set pre-load. Randy also worked with Harland Sharp to develop a pedestal mount roller rocker that has a built in pre-load adjuster.

There's lots of options out there, but the Crane kit works well in hyd cam applications. I've been using them since 1987? and haven't ever had an issue.

For what it's worth, I've been able to flip the guideplates on some heads without grinding.

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