Good new for a change! I finished the job a while ago and took the car for a spin. Right away I noticed two things.
1. My WB02 was right at 14.7, no bouncing around like it usually does. I first thought, great..now that friggin thing is not working. So I tapped the gas while just sitting idling and it moved ever so slightly then right back to 14.7. I could not believe my eyes. The idle is silk smooth too.

2. My oil pressure at idle was much higher than usual. Its back to the way it used to be right at 35 PSI @ 900 RPM. When I tap the gas it goes up to about 43 PSI with small revs.

I took the car out and noticed right away the throttle response was MUCH better. I cruised around for a while in town then headed out to my testing grounds.

I started from a dead stop and launched at about 1500 RPM, keep in mind I still have my slicks and skinnies on from the track this weekend. The car came out VERY hard and I could hear the tires slipping a little. I had the roof off so I could hear things a bit better. I hit second a little too early. Then took it all the way to the shift light, 5700 RPM. The light lit and I hit 3rd and to my amazement the tires broke loose! Trust me that never happen before. It was only a small amount but the car was pulling extremely hard. My AFR was low 12s so I know there is even more in it.

Bottom line is the adjustment of the valves made some dramatic changes. I don't want to get too excited about track expectations, but I think I will get what I have been missing out on. A 110 MPH trap speed.

I think the valves really brought out the top end of this setup. They must have been too tight and been letting some of the charge out of the cylinder on the compression stroke. I can only spectulate as to what was happening, but it seems better now.

Can someone verify what would have been happening if the valves were set too tight. How would this effect performance.

Oh yeah, it also solved my occasional stall problem when I would put the car into gear from park. I tried it several times and it was perfect. I can't believe that I have been dicking with this setup this long and it was that.

I look forward to tuning it now. It seemed before like every time I tried to scan the car it would change on me. I think it was due to the valves always allowing a different amount of air in. Does that make sense?

I would appreciate a little explination of what was happening if they in fact were out of adjustments. Could this resulted in the 5 MPH loss?

Oh well live and learn.....Just glad the work was worth a positive outcome.

Curious about the above ?s. If someone can answer it I would be greatful! Thanks.

 

You are on the money. Valves that are adjusted too tight will never fully seat against the valve seat once the lifters are pumped up (higher RPMs). You need to use minimal valve lash for high RPM power.

Tim

 

Having the valve clearances right are extremely imprtant. Just a couple thou and that drastically changes the cam duration, and at OVERLAP that has a HUGE effect on the self EGR'ing of the engine.

When they say the Cam is the Brains of the Engine it's absolutely true. Changing the overlap and intake closing point have profound effects on an engine.

 

Just a question,

Do u guys adjust the valves with the motor off (by the sequence in the repair manuals), or do you do it with the motor running and start from where the "clicking" stops, and then go 3/4 turn lets say. Anyway I guess both ways work well enough. Also I've always heard from mechanics that 1/2 turn of the nut gets good top end , while 3/4 or 1 turn gets good bottom end. Also how far do you go past.

 

i would have been alright probably if the engine would not have sat for so long during the buildup. I know some of the lifters lost their prime and were very easily collapsed. This is probably the reason why I had a tough time setting them the first time.

This time I used the running method. Then 1/4 turn.