Trouble with roller rockers????

[Mr. D]

'm a 55-57 Chevy, solid axle Corvette restoration type. I've always built Corvette engines with stock GM engineering specs and had great engines for the street. I put roller rockers on a moderate Competition Cam HE262H350 with new alumn. heads and the roller rockers. The roller rockers are noisey and don't sound that good!

The pushrods are the right length and rocker ratio is 1.5 stock, but I'm not sure I've got the rocker adjustment right. Evidently roller rockers require a better touch than the simple adjusting of hydraulics with stamped rockers. I also had trouble getting valve covers to clear the roller rockers and still clear the '56 Chevy firewall.

I guess I'll take another shot at "adjusting" them before I give up and put the stamped rockers back on. Frankly, for a Cruise Night Car the roller rockers are overkill and completely unnecessary. I get the obvious lower friction value, but If they only add the horsepower and torque the dino work I'm seeing online says, (5 lbs of torque at 6000 rpm with a cam like mine) they are not worth the hassle on a moderate, 5000 rpm cam engine like mine. I suspect they make more sense in a high lift, 7000+ rpm engine for competition. The valves sound noisey, but the car flies with the new cam and alumn. heads. Who needs roller rockers when you look good!

Live and Learn! Any ideas where I'm going wrong???