Technical Valve lash driving me crazy. What am I doing wrong?

If you spin it over with the starter you will be able to feel the difference between the comp. stroke and the exhaust stroke. With the compression stroke being stronger. The timing mark on the balancer will line up on both strokes but like you have seen the dist. will be 180 out on the exhaust stroke. For future reference you can count how many threads are showing above the rocker nut and or count the revolutions to unscrew the nuts and just reinstall to the same place. A stock valve train on a hyd. flat tappet with pressed in studs will have about 4-5 threads showing above the top of a stock nut.

 

Will i be okay if my distributor id pointing towards the center front of the engine when the timing marks line up? It doesn’t want to point towards #1 when the timing is lined up. I’m assuming I can just turn the distributor cap to compensate?

 

Yes. The spark plug wire goes on the cap tower that the rotor is pointing at when cylinder #1 is at TDC. The firing order starts there.

It literally does not matter which one it is.

If it really matters to you which one you want to be #1, put it there, where it will sit on the oil pump drive shaft, but not drop in, and then bump the starter a few times. It will rotate the distributor shaft until it drops in.

 

Aren't there any St. Louis hambers around that can help this guy out? He's in Belleville.

 

Your best most professional looking results are to drop the dist. in so the vacume advance is where it should be and this will allow it to be rotated either way to set the timing . But yes you can put the dist wherever you want and you can even rotate the wires around to get number one on the cap to match the rotor position. If the dist. is not dropping in ( which on a V-8 Chevy they very rarely do ) because it is not engaging the oil pump ( you have a remote starter button ! right ? ) if not get one or have someone helping you . Just use the starter and wiggle the dist. around will spinning the motor over and it will drop right in and not hurt a thing. Then just go ahead and recheck your settings again and it will be good to go.

 

Here´s what worked for me :
If #1 is on combustion stroke, # 6 will be overlapping
FO is 18436572
adjust #1 when #6 is rocking
adjust #8 when #5 is rocking
#4 when #7 is rocking
#3 when #2 is rocking
# 6 when #1 is rocking
# 5 when# 8 is rocking
# 7 when # 4 is rocking
and # 2 when # 3 is rocking. I always wiggle the rocker up and down at it´s pushrod end and tighten the nut to zero lash, then 1/2 turn to preload the lifter- the " turn the pushrod "-method never worked for me, I always ended up with a too tight setting.

 

1). Put what you've been doing completely out of your mind
2). Use the EOIC method, watching the action of the rocker arms. It's simple, and it works
3). Don't overthink it, refer to 2).

 

Well, first did you get the valves set?

Now I think you have a 283 as I recall? So there’s no rubber in the balancer?, I ask because I haven’t looked at a 283 in 30 + years. So assuming the mark in the balancer is correct, put some toilet paper balled up in/over the #1 hole ( easier for me this way) rotate engine till paper “poofs” or pops out

The continue to rotate until your mark is lined up to the pointer #1 will be at TDC. Now install the distributor with the rotor slightly before #1 plug wire on the cap. That should put you in proper range so when you go to fire the engine you have a bit of leeway to rotate the distributor and get it running and set the timing

 

I got it! The distributor took some fiddling but I finally figured out the trick is to put it just slightly before where you want it, then when the motor turns over and it drops in, it moves forward just slightly because of the curved teeth. I used a combination of the method mentioned here to set the lash and the method I had been using. Both are pretty much the same just one is slightly more accurate i guess. Now it’s wiring and plumbing time!


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What Chris said. Wouldn't take long for a St. Louis area HAMBer to get this thing straightened out.

 

Heres how I recently did mine...

Pull all spark plugs. start at whatever cyl you want, turn it to TDC, (thumb over the plug hole) ((I have a boroscope camera to watch exactly when the piston starts to drop))
then tighten the nut till the rocker/pushrod just get tight, then 1/2 turn more. Then next cyl

I had an issue of 0 compression on 2 cyls, so to figure where the compression was leaving me, i ran the piston to TDC again, put a rubber tipped nozzle on my air hose and blew air into the cyl. Listening close you can hear if the air is going out the exhaust or intake. Then just slowly losen that nut until you cant hear air escaping.

Not a professional method, but i went from running on 5 cyls to running on 8 in a matter of 30 minutes. no need to pull intake or anything else

Another thing I found helpful for setting the dist, a large flat screwdriver can help to clock the oil pump drive slot to where you want it, then you can drop the dist in closer to where you want it to be.

 

You are the first I ever heard other than me using this method. THE most accurate way. And it had to come from halfway around the world. And all you have to remember is the firing order. Great minds think alike!

 

Jaw, That´s funny, haha. I thought this was just the way to do it. But I have to admit, that was not my idea. But the first 327 sbc I built some 20 years ago never ran right. An old drag racer , Pat Schöfer ( rip) , who had balanced the rotating assembly for it, asked me how I had set the valve lash. I had used the " turn the pushrod until it binds, then another 3/4 turn, EOIC method" and he supposed I had ended up with partly open valves because of a too tight adjustment. He showed me the #1 when #6 rocks method and told me to rattle the rocker instead or turning the pushrod. Worked perfectly for me ever since...
Reading through this thread I wondered why nobody else had posted abouth this method, so I thought I´d do it.

 

Glad you got it figured out. Earlier in the thred someone mentioned adjusting the valves with the engine running. I had never heard of that with a V8. It's a common way of adjusting valves on a Corvair. That is after your initial break in adjustment.
Once your engine is broken in it is the the best method. A little messy(I use cut down valve covers) but it allows for the best adjustment because the engine is up to temp. You have a fair amount of expansion and contraction in an air cooled motor. Sorry I got off track and good luck getting that motor fired.

 

Thats exactly what We do.
#6 is always 360 deg from #1
If #1 rockers are loose then # 6 exhaust is closing and Intake is opening [#1 is at TDC]
or
If #6 rockers are loose then #1 exhaust is closing and Intake is opening [#6 is at TDC]

The correct order to set the lifters is to set #1 cylinder at TDC
Then set Intake numbers 1- 3- 4- 8
Then set Exhaust numbers 1- 2- 5- 7

Then Rotate the engine 360 deg so #6 cylinder is at TDC
Then set Intake numbers 2- 5- 6- 7
Then set Exhaust numbers 3- 4- 6- 8

We use little dabs of masking tape on the respective rocker studs, so we know they are set. [some engine builders use a dab of paint]
Then when all 16 are done, pull the tape off!

We don't use the "spin the pushrod" technique . With assembly lube you can still spin the pushrods when the valves are open.
We use a homemade "tool" which is basically a bent piece of wire that is 0.030" thick on the bent end.
The wire is used as a feeler gauge, that goes down beside the pushrod and slips between the plunger and circlip of the lifter.
Chevy lifters have 0.060 of "bleed down" so we set them halfway

 

...And this is the method quoted in "the book". I have used this method, reading from a 1964 Chevy overhaul manual, several times, and it always works. An old valve cover with the centre cut out lets you adjust it with the engine running, using the "hearing" method.

 

This is exactly why I don't use this method. First off I find it hard to remember those series of numbers. I'd have to look it up every time I needed to set valves. All that jumping around on valves just seems to me to be where a valve can be left out pretty easily. And all I have to remember is the firing order. Example: Mimilan, above, forgot to set #8 exhaust. (I know it is just a typo, but it does illustrate my point.) When I set valves in the firing order, I always know where I'm at. Best way to set valves is turn off the phone and lock the door to the shop.

 

Information overload.
Moriarity's instruction, is the same as I use..simple, fool proof, positive results..no reason to over think this.