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Rocker Arms- Traditional Style and Roller Tip
Pontiac V8 Rocker Arms- Traditional Style and Roller Tip
Stock Geometry, Less Friction — Rocker Arms- Traditional Style and Roller Tip for Pontiac V8s
Traditional style and roller tip rocker arms are the stud-mounted rockers that bolt straight onto a Pontiac V8 the way the factory parts came off. A stock stamped or cast rocker scrubs the valve tip and pushes the stem hard against the guide. A roller tip rocker keeps the geometry but puts a wheel on the valve tip, which cuts that friction and frees up power.
Butler stocks Butler 1.5 and 1.65 steel roller rockers, Comp Magnum roller tip rockers in 1.52 and 1.65, PRW Sportsman roller tip sets, and true stock replacement rockers from Melling and Elgin. All of them are 7/16" stud parts and most ship with pivot balls and locks.
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1. Stock Replacement or Roller Tip
Both styles pivot on a ball and a stud. The difference is what touches the valve.
| Stock replacement | Melling MR846 in 1.5 ratio is the OEM style rocker for 1967 and later 14 degree Pontiac heads, and fits 301, 350, 400, 428 and 455. Elgin's R897 covers 1964-66 326, 389 and 421 in 1.5 ratio, includes the rocker ball and lock nut, and has the pushrod oiling hole. These are the right parts for a numbers-matching rebuild. |
| Kit versions | Melling's MR846-KIT and MR848-KIT add rocker balls and both 7/16" and 3/8" lock nuts, so you are not chasing hardware after the heads are on. |
| Roller tip | Butler steel roller rockers use 4340 chromoly bodies with a longer pivot slot for higher lift cams, and include pivot balls and PolyLocs. Comp Magnum rockers are investment cast 8620 chromemoly with the ratio cast into the body and ship with both 3/8" and 7/16" lock nuts. PRW Sportsman rockers use 4340 steel bodies with PRW RockerLocs and heat-treated pivot balls. |
| What the roller tip buys | the tip stops scrubbing the valve tip and quits pushing the stem against the guide, which the manufacturers rate as 15 to 30 horsepower over stock rockers along with less guide wear. |
2. Ratio: 1.5, 1.52 or 1.65
Ratio multiplies cam lobe lift into valve lift. Going up in ratio is a real cam change, not a bolt-on accessory.
| 1.5 and 1.52 | the stock Pontiac ratio and the near-stock roller tip equivalent. This is what a stock or mild cam was ground around, and it is the safe choice on a rebuild. |
| 1.65 | more valve lift from the same cam. It also means more spring travel, more load on the valvetrain and a different pushrod length. Check coil bind, retainer-to-seal clearance and piston-to-valve before you order 1.65 rockers for an engine that was spec'd around 1.5. |
| Both ratios, same families | Butler, Comp, Melling and PRW all offer their Pontiac rocker in both a low and a high ratio, so you can stay inside one brand and change only the ratio. |
3. The 350 lb Rule
This is the single most important line on this page, and it is printed on nearly every product in the category.
| Hydraulic flat tappet only | Butler, Comp, PRW, Melling and Elgin all state that these rockers are only recommended for hydraulic flat tappet cams. If the engine is getting a solid roller or an aggressive hydraulic roller, this is not the category you want. |
| Open spring pressure ceiling | the roller tip sets are rated at 350 lbs open spring pressure. Run them above that and you are loading a stud-mounted, ball-pivot rocker past what it was built for. |
| What to do instead | a full roller rocker or a shaft mount assembly is the answer for high spring pressures and roller cams. Butler carries both in the Rocker Arms and Accessories tree. |
4. What Else the Job Takes
Rockers do not install alone. Have the rest on the bench first.
| Studs and locks | everything here is 7/16" stud. Some sets include pivot balls and PolyLocs, some include only lock nuts. Read the set contents and fill the gap from Butler's rocker accessories. |
| Guide plates and hardened pushrods | if the heads use guide plates, the pushrods have to be hardened for guide plate use or the plates will saw through them. |
| Pushrod length | a ratio change, a milled head or a different lifter seat height all move the correct pushrod length. Check it with an adjustable length checker rather than assuming a stock rod still fits. |
If you are not sure whether your cam and springs are inside the 350 lb window, tell us the cam part number and the spring specs when you order and we will point you at the right rocker family.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.