Valve adjustment

[Martin Benade]

Sorry Jon, I should have been more polite.

[Jon Schmid]

Sorry Jon, I should have been more polite.

No worries, mate--we're good. And for the record, the last thing that I would ever do is neglect maintenance. To each their own. 8)

[Jim Liberty]

I've never been disappointed with factory advice. As Wes says, do what makes you happy. I check mine with every oil change, and yes Wes, the exhaust valves tighten themselves. Oh, maybe it is the "Old Geezer" setting them. ....................Jim.

[Wes Bender]

That's how often I do them too Jim, unless I imagine that I can hear one getting louder. The only problem I have ever had adjusting the valves is when I get to #2 (I adjust them in 4, 3, 2, 1 order) and I lay down under the car and reach for the valves farthest forward. For some reason I've done that several times. I realize immediately what is wrong. Must be old age. Can't be the beer.

Geezer is a distinct possibility. Getting back on subject, another reason to use the factory specs is that opening up the clearances changes the duration a bit.

[Vic Skirmants]

Don't forget that the clearances open up when hot!

[Dave Erickson]

IF the push rods match the cylinders...

Speaking of which, for cast iron cylinders, I like to use either the B/C pushrods that have long steel ends and a short aluminum center or the full length stainless steel 912 pushrods. I have a bunch of the full length aluminum pushrods and haven't figured out what cylinders match the expansion rate of those.

[Vic Skirmants]

"full length aluminum pushrods and haven't figured out what cylinders match the expansion rate of those."
Those are for the full aluminum cylinders and the S-90 Feral ones.

[David Nicholls]

I’ve always wondered why there aren’t valve clearances given, for when the engine is hot.
Wouldn’t that cover every combination of engines, pushrods, cylinders, etc ?
Regards
David

[Vic Skirmants]

I’ve always wondered why there aren’t valve clearances given, for when the engine is hot.
Wouldn’t that cover every combination of engines, pushrods, cylinders, etc ?
Regards
David

Have you ever pulled a valve cover on a hot engine??

[Tom Wavrin]

Can one determine what the correct valve adjustment specs should be on an assembled engine? There are a lot of cars out there whose owners don’t know the details of their engine’s configuration.
Dema Elgin suggested 0.004 intake and exhaust on the super cam I had sent him to be reworked. He had the information on the components going into the rebuild.
Wes mentioned the point that increasing clearance can decrease the duration of valve opening. On the exhaust side can that cause the engine to run at a higher temp?

[Martin Benade]

No harm, just a little noise. And I’ve heard rumors of an immeasurable boost in low speed torque.

[David Jones]

I would not do it on a street car but I did run the valves on my Vee at zero lash when cold. As long as the push rods spun when cold I knew I would have enough clearance when hot. I was looking for any increase in performance regardless of measurement.

[C J Murray]

Have you ever pulled a valve cover on a hot engine??

Some of the Brit cars that I worked on in the early 70s were set hot or had 2 settings listed, hot or cold.

[Wes Bender]

Or setting the valves on the old Chevy sixes through the engine side cover while they were running. I've still got a set of feeler gauges in my junk box that were dinged pretty good doing that. If we take up a collection to cover the burns, maybe we can convince Vic to get us some actual numbers on the hot valve clearances.

[Dave Erickson]

"full length aluminum pushrods and haven't figured out what cylinders match the expansion rate of those."
Those are for the full aluminum cylinders and the S-90 Feral ones.

Thanks Vic. Are there any cylinders currently available that would match the aluminum pushrods?