well, i have ben haveing trouble getting valve lash adjusted properly, i pulled the cover off and adjusted the valves, then found out that i have them extremely too tight, so tight that i bent a pushrod. I used the method where you look at one set of valve on any cylinder, turn to engine till the exhaust valve begin to open, then adjust that intake valve. It seemed like a pretty good method, but after i adjusted that intake valve, i would bump the engine over again and the that intake valve would be loose again, like say when that exhaust valve was at maximum lift. So im haveing a really hard time getting them adjusted, so i think what im gonna do is try it with the engine running.

 

I followed what the book said and I had 0 problems, i didnt have to adjust them at all, one time and thats it.

Bring piston 1 to TDC and follow the guide on which ones to tighten, then turn motor over 180* and do the rest.

I had about 4 threads from the top of the bolt to the top of the stud showing if that helps at all.

 

Well, only problem is, i have a hard time finding top dead center.

 

How is this hard? Just put the balancer to the 0 degree mark on the timing tab on the #1 cylinder's compression stroke.

 

Wasnt thinking, ill give this method a try

 

You'll get it man. I hate doing valve lash, but it's something you *need* to do, as you've discovered. I still don't liek doing it, because it's so easy to overtighten. Just remember you're not torquing anything as you would a head bolt, you're adjusting something similar to an idle screw...

 

I did it the same way (like the book said), before I realized I made the situation worse. I asked a competent mechanic, and was told to adjust this way:

have someone in the car holding the idle up to aroun 1500rpm while, with the valve covers off (vacuum lines plugged and towels to soak up the oil that will squirt out), adjust each rocker nut outward until you really feel the valve tap and then adjust it back in 1/4 turn. Do all valves quickly, then shut off the engine, hook everything up, and there you go. You can do a quick manifold vacuum test to check it overal real fast if you wanted to.