Long story short...manifolds failed, let water in motor. Had motor flushed out, new manifolds/elbows but still had an oil leak. I pulled the port side valve cover and it was caked with white goo (water in oil). Everything is cleaned up and the leak is fixed but the rocker arms/studs have some rust on them from the water that was in the motor. How bad is this ? The motor idles and runs fine and I'm going to order new Merc rocker arms and studs eventually, I just want to know how urgent this really is ? Thanks, Rock

can you get a picture?

I assume these are stamped steel rockers. You have to watch getting rust on the balls. They already have a bunch of friction on them. Any rust will be ground off and can destroy the ball and rocker.
Eddie

You shouldn't take chances with your valvetrain. I have
mine off of my 502 nearly complete(missing 2 rockers
I think - 70 hrs.). Keepers, balls, bolts, rockers are yours
if you need them. PM or email me.

The rockers my motor uses are pictured below. I believe they are roller rockers (not sure what the difference is). I already put the valve cover back on or I would have taken a pic of them.

Also, I wasn't aware of the adjusting required when installing new rocker arms, it's a little beyond my skill set. It also appears that I will have to remove the heads to make thses adjustments ?

Thanks for the replies (and the generous offer, dbkski), btw.

Rock

Those aren't roller rockers. Plain janes rockers. Adjusted with the motor assembled. Best to find someone whos done it before. It's not hard to do, but if not done right, you won't like the results. Good luck

Rock,
Depending on which engine you have, they might not need adjusting. If yours has a "bolt" that goes through the rocker arm to hold it down, there is no adjustment, just tighten in to the correct torque spec.

If however your rocker arms mount on a stud with a nut on the top side to hold the rocker in place, it is indeed adjustable and should be done before you start the engine.

Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf md

Ok, guys...thanks for all the replies. I believe I have my answer.

Rock