Banana groove small block rocker shafts

Bewy said

I do not see how a loose shaft could cause the rocker to bind on the shaft. An overtightened shaft, yes, because it is no longer round, but oval shaped.
A loose shaft, if loose enough, would leak oil pressure & may starve the rockers.
The pic in post #22 tells the story....

Click to expand...

If you can see how an over tight shaft can cause a bind, you can see how a loose one would.

A loose shaft will deflect before it starts to convert the linear motion of the cam into rotational, and it's happening at 8 different points along the shaft at at 8 different loads as valves open and close. The rigidity of the shaft requires it to be held down firmly.

Could the shaft have been loose enough to lose oil lubrication to the rockers? Sure. Could be a combination of multiple factors.