Hi everyone, been looking around for hours and cant figure out whats going on. Im using 7.8" pushrod with a 2" flat tappet hydraulic lifter. when I set 0 lash at tdc of cyl 1, I put a screw driver in the spark plug and it seems that when i start to torque to 22 ft lbs it'll push the valve down and hit the piston. also it takes way more than 2 full turns to get it to 22(about 3-4). Is my pushrod length wrong? I have a adjustable checker and when I set it to 7.5 I can get 22 in a turn and a half but it seems the rocker gets tightened completly down to the base of the stud, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I measured the old pushrod + lifter. The lifter is 2 and just a titch over 9/16 and the rod is 7 and just a titch over 3/16 so the total length i would need to accumlate would be a bit over 9.75. So with the 7.8" rod and 2" lifter gets me 9.8 so that should work right? Its an 89 305 tbi.

 

Was the old lifter and pushrod for a roller cam? That would explain the difference in lengths.

Where the hell did you come up with 22 ft/lbs? That's all wrong. STOP RIGHT NOW before you do irrepairable damage!
Do not turn the crankshaft - either with a wrench or by the starter motor.
First we have to figure out what you HAD, and what you HAVE NOW. Post pictures please.

 

SirGillasparagus really should search for Sofakingdom's well written post on how to properly set valve clearance.

It's clear, concise, and as a special bonus, , , NO torque wrench is required (as it should be, since torque has NO place in adjusting valves) !

 

So I did get it running and working, I am using 7.800 rod with the lifters
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-14957800 those are them, so in case it does end up helping someone, they worked for me. I did have a timing issue that ended in a bad crank bearing but I am confident that those are the rods for the 2' lifters I got.

 

You don't "torque to 22 ft-lbs" in a small block Chevy.

That's LS motor, with non-adjustable valve train, procedure.

In a SBC, you tighten the nut until all the vertical play in the push rod is taken up when the cam is on the base circle, then tighten some certain amount more (often around a half turn), to preload the lifter.

The "torque on the nut" could end up being just about ANYTHING. Doesn't matter what it is.

And thank you Orange, you're right, I've written down in detail many times how to do this, so by all means search for it and follow the procedure.

 

If Poly-Locks are used on any of the SBC Engines (Gen-1, 2, 3, or 4) and the Hydraulic-Lifters use little to zero pre-load...
Then yes, you will stop after all play is taken up at the Push-Rod, and tighten the Poly-Lock a half to One turn more.