Im a little out of the water but page 110, Adjust Valves, states in part, "After setting the lash on this cylinder, rotate the engine 90 degrees to the next mark on the dampner (see page 110), and follow the firing order, adjust each set of valves in turn, rotating the engine to the next mark on the dampner as you go."  The correct page should be 133, not 110. Am I on the right track here? The idea behind this process is to find the extreme open lash of the valves quicker than turning the engine over for each valve by going down one bank and then the other?

Darrell Howard Whitefish, MT Outlaw 56 Ford F-100's

I reckon that is his idea.I have been doing this for 50 years and I still just go down 1 bank and then the other.

Darrell, I see what you see about pages 110 and 133.  This method was taught to me by Jerry Christenson some years ago to get the job done the most efficient way.  I know Jerry was a consultant on this book and that is probably where this method came from.  Just stubborn I guess, I still start with number one and work my way down each head to number 8.  Tim McMaster has his own method by knowing what cylinders are 90* apart and adjusts them by bouncing around on both heads and not using any marks on the damper.  I'm sure someone out there has even more methods that make sense to them.

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)



BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

Im thinking rather than hopping all around, I would be better off just going down one bank and then the other. Just in case, while I had my dampner off, I put four tiny white marks at ODC and every quarter around the dampener. Seriously doubt I will ever use anything other than the straight down the bank method.

Darrell Howard Whitefish, MT Outlaw 56 Ford F-100's

I have always just followed the firing order and have the relevant opposiing cylinder with both rocker arms rocking.This means the cylinder you are working on has to be on TDC.With this method you can start anywhere and don't need to look at timing marks


Gary - 1958 Star Customline and 1940 Ford Deluxe Hotrod

Gary, can you be a little more specific about this. I dont understand but Id like to (sorry). Exactly how are you doing this?

Darrell Howard Whitefish, MT Outlaw 56 Ford F-100's

Valve adjustment is not rocket science but does require that the tappet be on the heel of the camshaft when the actual adjustment is made. There are several ways to accomplish this and which method is used is simply a matter of preference by the person doing the adjustment.  Those persons dealing with only one engine tend to do the valve adjustments differently from those that do it on several different engines.  Because I deal with a variety of different makes and models of engines, my own preference is to set the valves for each cylinder simply following the firing order.

On a V8 engine and setting the damper at TDC, I start the valve adjustment procedure at cylinder 1 or 6 after determining which of these two cylinders is not residing at the overlap cycle.  The valve covers are off at this point which facilitates determining which cylinder is coming up on the compression stroke and which cylinder is coming up on the overlap cycle.  After setting the valves on that first cylinder, the engine is then rotated in 90° increments and by following the firing order, the intake and exhaust valves for the individual cylinders are adjusted.  As a general rule, TDC on all V8 engines is shared by #1 and #6 cylinders regardless of the firing order or how the cylinders are numbered.

With all that being said, here’s an older post where several different methods of adjusting the valves is discussed.

http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/Topic8614.aspx

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

DarrellThe Y block firing order is 1-5-4-8-6-3-7-2To adjust the rockers simply with both rocker covers off and the spark plugs out (not really necessary but it makes it easier to turn) rotate the engine slowly until both rocker arms are both moving on any particular cylinder ie the exhaust valve will be just starting to close (coming up) and the inlet valve will be just starting to open (going down). When you have these so that they are both "rocking" at the same position, then the opposing firing cylinder will be on TDC and ready to adjust the rockers.eg if you have started on cylinder 5 and have both rockers rocking, then cylinder 3 will be on TDC and ready for you to adjust.After you adjust cylinder 3 and start to rotate the engine again, then the rockers on cylinder 4 will start to "rock" and you can then adjust it's opposite number, cylinder 7.So just follow the firing order around the cylinder and don't worry about timing marks etc because if the camshaft is correctly installed in the engine then this method is foolproof and can never be wrong.


Gary - 1958 Star Customline and 1940 Ford Deluxe Hotrod

Thanks Gary, where do you set yours at?

Darrell Howard Whitefish, MT Outlaw 56 Ford F-100's

Gary - 1958 Star Customline and 1940 Ford Deluxe Hotrod