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Most Mopar racers have tried grinding the rocker arm for additional clearance, installing the smallest diameter and strongest valve springs and even trimming the edges of titanium retainers so they would clear the rocker arms. These all work, but only temporarily, as the grinding weakens the rocker arm and it is inevitable that it will fail prematurely. Personally, breaking two to four rocker arms and the resulting damage to roller lifters and pushrods was getting old. I was lucky in that I have never really hurt anything else, but breaking an exhaust rocker and putting the extra pressure on that cylinder’s connecting rod and bearing could cause a major engine failure.

I started looking around for a cure for this common Mopar problem. I ended up talking to Jesel Rocker Arms at the PRI Show last winter. I looked over what they offered and decided it was time to bring modern technology to my 970 H.P. Mopar. The Pro Series kit for my model 440-1 Indy Cylinder Heads comes with the absolute finest mounting hardware, detailed instructions, fixtures to assure proper rocker arm shaft height, and a reputation for the finest rocker arms available at any cost.

Rather than keep you guessing, a Pro-Series Jesel rocker arm assembly for the 440-1 Mopar heads will set you back about $1400.00 if you go for the extra milling to lighten them up even more. Standard kits for the Mopar run about $1200.00 for Mopars and a few hundred less for Chevrolets.

Installation and prep work is very well explained and diagramed in the installation instructions. There is a bit more involved when doing a Mopar because the rocker shaft pedestals have to be milled off so the new Jesel Rocker Arms can be bolted to their mounting plate.

I trusted the machine work and milling to R&J Performance in Hudson, IA. Keith “Woody” Briden has done work for me for over 15 years and just like in the past I was not disappointed. The photos pretty much tell the story of setting up the Indy heads (or any big block Mopar head for that matter) for the milling process to remove the rocker shaft pedestals.

Initial milling on the rocker shaft pedestals. They were milled down .600" then trial fitting started.	This is the fixture that Jesel supplies to let the machinist know when the depth of the milling is correct. The fixture will fit flat on the top of the valve when the height of the mounting plate is correct.	After the plate height is correct, the mounting plate needs to be bolted down. This requires using the five original threaded holes and adding four more so the billet plate does not flex.

The fixture Jesel provided to assure proper installed height of the mounting plate is simple to use and deadly accurate, as it all came out just right. As in all machining accuracy and patience will produce the results you are looking for. In this case the Jesel Rocker Arm system went together as designed.