I just had the heads redone on my 84' Z28 with the 305 H.O. Motor. The heads are on, the intake manifold is back on, I'm just waiting on my exhaust system so I can start it up.

Right now, I have the rocker arms bolted down so there is a little bit of play, you can shake them, but not far at all. My question is, will it start if they are this loose, I don't want them to be too tight.

My next question is, once the car is on, exactly what do I have to do. How long does it have to warm up, are the rocker arms going to be clanking around during the whole warm up, and is this bad for it?

This is the information I have gathered from many mechanics, and managed to put together in a way I can understand, please correct me if this is wrong:
Start it up, and let it warm up really hot, take the valve covers off, and spin the pushrod while tightening the nut, until the pushrod stops moving, then turn 1/2 turn.

Is this right, is there any special sequence of rocker arms I should do?

Pleas help me, I appreciate it.

 

Here's what I do:

1. My first choice because its easier, cleaner, and faster. When the engine is cold, on stand, whatever, install nut untill the rocker is just tight enough to not allow the pushrod to rotate. Then I go an extra 1/4 -1/2 turn on the nut and lock it down. This is what I have been doing for years and it works just fine for me.

2. I have done this in the passed and it works, but I don't like it as much as option 1. With the engine running, snug up rocker nuts until tapping noise goes away. Then snug a 1/4 turn more. This option sucks if your engine is equipped with a high volume oil pump. The oil is pumped very quickly and in large amounts to the top of the engine quickly and leaks all over everything!!!

Happy Wrenching...

 

Just make sure that you follow the correct lash procedure order-wise if you do it with the engine off (you can find the instructions in any of the repair manuals).. I have done it this way and it works well..

 

You don't have to be real fancy about this. The hydraulic lifters take care of the fine points for you.

There's a simple way to do it (didn't figure this out myself, heard about it here on this board). The engine doesn't have to be warm or running, or any particular valve adjusted in only one exact engine position.

Put the timing mark at the zero mark on the timing tab. Loosen all the rocker arms until there is slack in them. Tighten each one just enough to take the slack out, all 16. Turn the engine over 1/2 turn at the crank. Tighten up any that are now loose. Turn the engine another 1/2 turn and repeat. Do this a total of 4 times (you should only have 4 loose ones in the 4th position).

Now turn them all down an additional 1/4 to 1/2 turn (do them all the same, though). 1/4 turn for higher RPM capability (depending upon your cam, of course), 1/2 turn for insurance against being too loose/noisy.

 

What five7 said. I figured that out after reading the procedure in my manual and staring at my old camshaft for a bit. If you tighten each rocker arm to zero lash with the engine at a few different positions, then turn it over again to check, it's not likely that you'll miss any. It's easier than remembering which valves are fully closed at certain engine positions.