ok.. edelbrock says to use zero valve lash. the guy putting my heads /intake back on says start the engine and let it warm up. remove one valve cover and loosen each valve one at a time till it makes ticking sound then tighten t'ill it goes away and give it an extra 1/2 turn.. is this right?

anyone have tricks so I don't get oil all over the place? he told me there some deflectors you can get but no one seems to have any around here..

 

as for a trick find a old set of valve covers and cut the top out of them . keeps the oil from running down the headers.on a hydraulic flat tappet cam i do the loosen till they tick and tighten anywhere from 1/2 to 1 turn. that way i know they're set for sure.

 

You can adjust the valves without the motor running. At first tighten them down till they just touch. Then add a half turn. Do your break in and get the motor nice and warm. Then pop the valve covers back off, back off the rockers and reset them all. Just dont forget that you have to be on the base circle of the cam for all adjustments. Otherwise your gonna run into some problems.

 

fyii.. the cam was already broken in.. I'm putting back together after blown head gasket. do I need to use assembly lube again? I don't think I have any. I was just going to make sure everything was oiled up.. how far does the whole shoot? I've never tried running with the valve cover off..

 

Tough to use a valve cover with the center out...on CB VC heads..they do make those neat little clip on deflectors though.

Do a search,. been posted a bazillion times...but I guess I never trust my "non-running" abilities, and always redo with eninge running...but go to 3/4-1 turn...my understanding for smallish cams is that gets you about 1/2 way in the lifter.

If you have a larger cam and plan to turn high rpms, then you may need to back off to a 1/4 turn"past ticking" or so.

Then again, I'm about 99.99999% sure the factory doesn't adjust valve on any running engine after it's setup in the motor shop, so there's probaly no real reason to get messy, is there

 

From Crane Cams:


Adjusting Hydraulic Lifters for Proper Preload
In order to adjust the preload the lifter must be properly located on the base circle or “Heel” of the lobe. At this position the valve is closed and there is no lift taking place. You will need to watch the movement of the valves to determine which lifter is properly positioned for adjusting.

1. Remove the valve covers, and pick a cylinder you are going to set the preload on.

2. Hand rotate the engine in its normal direction of rotation and watch the exhaust valve on that particular cylinder. When the exhaust valve begins to open, stop and adjust that cylinder’s intake rocker arm. (Why? Because when the exhaust valve is just beginning to open, the intake lifter will be on the base circle of the lobe, the correct position for adjusting the intake.)

3. Back off the intake rocker arm adjuster and remove any tension from the pushrod. Wait a minute or two for that hydraulic lifter to return to a neutral position. The spring inside the lifter will move the pushrod seat up against the retaining lock if you give it time to do so. (If you are installing brand new lifters they will be in the neutral position when they come in the box.)

4. Now spin the intake pushrod with your fingers while tightening down the rocker arm. When you feel a slight resistance to the turning of the pushrod, you are at “Zero Lash”. Turn the adjusting nut down one half to one full turn from that point. Lock the adjuster into position. The intake is now adjusted properly.

5. Continue to hand turn the engine, watching that same intake. It will go to full open and then begin to close. When it is almost closed, stop and adjust the exhaust rocker arm on that particular cylinder. (Again, when we see the intake almost closed, we are sure that exhaust lifter is on the base circle of the lobe.) Loosen the exhaust rocker arm and follow the same procedure described before in steps 3 and 4 to adjust this rocker arm.

6. Both valves on this cylinder are now adjusted, and you can move on to your next cylinder and follow the same procedure again.

 

The method i described doing it after break in is just a method of hot adjustment to get it all adjusted when every thing is at operating temperature. Its not absolutly neccessary that it be done but i like to be absolutly certain.

 

I do mine with the engine not running. Take the valve covers off and set the number 1 cylnder at TDC of the compression stroke.

No matter what the cam both valves for that cylnder will be closed. You can now do both valves for that cylnder. I roll the push rod between my thumb and finger and as soon as i cannot spin the pushrod that is zero lash. I then give the rocker one full turn to set the plunger in the lifter.

Once that cylnder is done I rotate the balancer 90 degrees and go through the firing order. (a timing tape or marked balancer helps) Order is 1 8 4 3 6 5 7 2

No mess, no oil, no noise, no hot stuff to get burned on....