I have a recently professionally rebuilt 292 truck motor with steel crank in a 57 Thunderbird using the T-Bird dual pulley dampner.   Engine runs fine, but I haven't driven it and run it 20-30 minutes a week while the car is in restoration.  I thought it would be a good idea to check and reset the lifters since it now has a several hours of run time.   I have read the proceedure in the 56 and 57 shop manuals and also online.   All info I have read is in agreement.

Problem #1 - All is OK setting  #1,2,4,5,7 on TDC.   Rotate the engine 180 and the #6 INTAKE is in position not the EXHAUST as per all I have read.  Rotating additional 270 and all is OK except the #6 EXHAUST is now in position.   Why are they reversed??  Is my info wrong?  Is the new cam wrong?   Rockers and shafts had about 4000 miles on them and look new when engine was rebuilt.

Problem #2 - When setting #2 E, I can insert .058 shim under #2 I.   Perhaps my thinking is wrong, but I thought the largest opening would be when the crank is in the proper setting position.  Is this normal??

Thanks in advance for any help and info.    J

Has the damper ring slipped?  Best that I can recall, if it’s an original T-Bird damper then this is likely not the problem.  But if there is a ring or something mounted on rubber in which the TDC mark is on and has slipped, then TDC on the damper will not be correct which is automatically throwing off the valve to piston relationship for valve setting purposes.  With the #1 cylinder at TDC and at the end of the compression stroke, then the #6 cylinder valves should be equally open.  If one of the #6 valves is open more than the other at this point, then top of the list is to recheck the TDC mark on the damper for being correct.  If TDC on the damper is verified and correct, then a secondary thing to look for at this point would be the camshaft improperly installed.

 

Are you confusing the cylinder numbering with the GM’s? The cylinders on the Ford are numbered 1-4 on the passenger side and 5-8 on the drivers side.

 

Are you rotating the engine by hand?  If so, then the engine needs to turn over clockwise looking at the front.  If you’re using the starter, then overshooting the 180° and 270° positions by just a little bit will throw off the settings for the valves.

 

If you’re still having difficulty, then I’d suggest using one of the alternate valve setting methods listed in the following link.  I always considered the methodology listed in the shop manual cumbersome as it is ‘Y’ specific and not applicable to the other Ford engines.  Some of the other methods listed in the link are more generic in nature and user friendly.

 

Alternate methods for setting the valves

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Thanks Ted - I started to read your reply and when I came to the sentence about the GM confusion............... well lets just say I was quite mad at myself!!!   In my defence, all I can say is that i am a retired Pattern Maker/machinist for the General and those 30+ years may have clouded my thinking. 

I had masking tape around the pulley marked in quarters, so that wasn't the issue, I then wrote 1,2,3,4 & 5,6,7,8 on tape an put it on the proper fenders so I would be less likely to screw up again!!!  I knew something was wrong but never thought it was as simple as having #1 on the wrong side, especially since checking the first 3 rockers were extremely close.  

All is now well and thanks again!!   J