Date:         Thu, 31 Aug 2000 07:27:18 EDT
Reply-To:     Wolfvan88@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Lilley <Wolfvan88@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: High Ratio Rockers
Comments: To: hanninkt@ix.netcom.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

In a message dated 8/30/00 11:48:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
hanninkt@ix.netcom.com writes:

<< "Old time racers often reminisce about the quality of the original Empi
 forged steel 1.4 to 1 rockers. As some of the old timers know, the Empi
 rockers were designed after the proto set I made in the early 60's when Dean
 Lowry and I made our first ever high ratio rocker arms for the VW engines.
 Mine were made from a 356 Porsche and Dean's were made from the stock VW.
 Needless to say, the Porsche design was adopted as it had the adjusting
 screw on the pushrod end, which provides far more RPM with less valve spring
 (also the reason why a roller tipped rocker should never be used on a VW)."
  >>

I understand Berg used steel for rocker arms.  While Pauter uses a
lightweight aluminum alloy.  I do not know if there were any strong alloys
available to him when he went through his design phase compared to what is
available today.

The overall weight for the steel is heavier compared to the aluminum alloy.

Pauter does a LOT more with Lightweight alloy metals than GBE does.  Look at
their aluminum billet connecting rods.

GB has a lot of good about engine design, but GB statements might apply more
during his time when the roller tip design was being made from steel rockers
and not today's lightweight aluminum alloys.

Robert