that is great to have roller rockers. truth is most of us are not racing, but refaced rockers(properly via vg machine) withe new rocker shafts and spill tubes blocked will stock 289/302 valve seals  will give good service for50 00 to 80,00miles my 292 burns no oil, rockers are quite, I did enlarge the grove in  new cam.
good luck with your race engine.

272meteor. I find your statement about positive seals a concern but I feel not a reason to not use them. I used the original style PC white nylon seals starting many many years ago. In one of my racing engines where roller tip rockers were not available (not a Y-Block or Ford product) I found valve guide wear was a problem because of the side pressures of the rocker tip. I designed and made roller shaft and tip rocker arms and the problem was gone. Prior to the new rockers the valve lift was .530” and seat spring pressure was #130. The seals always felt tight. After the roller rockers the valve lift was .610” .
As years went on new materials became available which sealed the valves but caused a lot less drag. I understand that a non-roller tip rocker “scuffs” the valve tip and over time and miles causes a lot of the wear especially when higher pressure and lift is used. 

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

RE THE BAFLES,when  used competition head gaskets the baffles are the same thickness of a old after used comp. gasket.so geometry  the same as shim gaskets with baffles. I used 302/289 valve sealed,but trimed the umbrella seals1/8 of in.  my big concern was and still is was rocker shafts, as with spill tubes in place  the end of no spill tube is usually full of sludge. so critical to clean out shafts or replace them.those who wory about draining the oil from heads need not worry
 I think cam issues  start with 1 end of valve train gets poor or no oil loading up the camshaft.
 my 292 is into its 5th year, just did a valve lash and found virtually no wear. no smoke, no lube oil burning. well worth a minor compression drop due to thicker head gasket. I MEASURED A OLD COMP GASKET AFTER BEING USED THE SAME THICKNESS OG THE SPILL PLATES UNDER ROCKER SHAFTS. my opinion is positive valve seals is
to sever and causes guid wear. at rebuild I used a new cam with re surfaced lifters.

Pictures of Ford Y valve train oil baffles.
  

  

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Ted, would you mind posting a picture of these baffles. I don't think I ever seen them.  Thanks  Joe 

Located in Harford County Maryland 

The oil baffles under the rocker stands are a plus when they can be used.  As previously mentioned, FoMoCo discontinued using them on the ’57 and newer model Y-Blocks.  Although the valve lifts on the ’58 and newer Y engines went back to the ’56 and earlier cam specs, the oil baffles did not make their way back onto those later model engines.  This could very well have been an item that was eliminated simply due to the costs outweighing the perceived benefits.  In ’56, the oil trough for the timing chain and the fuel pump eccentric counterweight were phased out.  The oil baffles were just another piece of extra engineering that was ultimately eliminated on the Ford Y engines.

Those particular baffles would appear to be more beneficial when using umbrella seals on the guides.  The use of positive valve seals does tend to eliminate the need for the oil baffles all together but retaining the original valve train geometry does require the baffles to be in place if using the original stock small lift camshafts.  I’ll add that when going with the aluminum heads and/or roller rocker arm assemblies, the baffles must be eliminated regardless of the type of valve seal being used.

If it’s any consolation, the Ford FE engines used some form of valve train oil baffle for all years of production (1958-1976).

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Ted. and others . . . . . Do you like the baffles as good for the engine/cylinder head or oiling in general? Was Ford correct in using them and did they perform correctly as designed?

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

That ‘technical change’ was likely related to the increased lobe lift for the 1957 camshafts.  To achieve more lift, the base circle of the camshaft was reduced.  This dropped the lifter lower into the lifter hole when at rest which then required a change to the valve train to correct or optimize the rocker arm geometry.  Rather than alter the machined height of the pads cast into the heads that the rocker stands sit upon, change the valve stem lengths, or shorten the heights of the rocker support stands themselves, the easy fix for correcting the geometry was to simply remove the ‘valve spring oil baffles’.  That was a simple fix where the cylinder heads and rocker assemblies for all years would still interchange.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Exactly what happened with the blue Fel-Pro gaskets on my engine. There's evidence of coolant weeping at the lower edge on the cylinder heads. I've never been able to sneak up and catch it leaking, though.  It leaves a couple frosty white streaks running down the block but haven't noticed any additional streaking lately. Wish I had known of the Best gasket before I assembled the engine. Live and learn.............. 

64F100 57FAIRLANE500

My two cents worth on the subject.

The steel shim gaskets are not recommended due to several different issues with them.

1. Top of the list is sealing against water leaks.  While painting or coating those gaskets with sealer may help, there’s no guarantee that will prevent water seepage.
2. Any warpage of the cylinder heads is exasperated with the use of the steel shim head gaskets as those gaskets do not conform as well to any deformities that may be residing in the cylinder heads.
3. The original grade five and grade six head bolts are barely adequate for clamping purposes and as time goes on, they tend to become more elastic.  When new, they do not provide the same clamping force as the grade eight head bolts and subsequently do not put an adequate clamping pressure on the steel shim head gaskets.  Keep in mind that Ford went to a grade eight head bolt in 1963 for the Y after years of fighting problems with the lesser grade head bolts.
4. The long-term wear factor of the steel shim head gaskets is shorter than the composition head gaskets.  Those passages in the gaskets that are blocked by design will eventually rust out and promote an overheating scenario.
5. And not to be forgotten is the retorqing of the head bolts after running an engine with steel shim head gaskets.  That retorquing of the head bolts is not required with composition gaskets.

While it is desirable to keep the piston quench minimal, the advantages of using composition head gaskets over the steel shim head gaskets more than outweighs the disadvantages.  On a stock 292 using ECZ-G heads, the difference in compression ratio between using the oem steel shim head gasket versus the BstGskt 572G head gasket is a half a point.  With the lower quality of todays gasoline, that’s likely not in the wrong direction to be going with the compression ratio.

With all that being said, I do prefer the Best Gasket head gaskets over some of the other brands that are out there.  Best Gasket has continually improved the head gasket design for the Y and those gaskets seal from the git go without requiring a retorque of the cylinder heads after a period of running.  The ‘blue’ Fel-Pro head gaskets are noted for coolant leakage at the lower edge of the cylinder heads.  That’s a result of too much material in those gaskets around the pushrod holes which prevents an equal clamping force at the bottom of the cylinder heads.  Fel-Pro has been talked to about this but they were not into retooling the head gasket dies to fix that particular problem.

Feel free to post other views on this subject.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)