Adjusting rocker arms?
 

I need some help on adjusting rocker arms. I know that you go half a turn past snug on the pushrod, but how do I correctly position the cam for adjusting each one??

Someone told me something about turning the damper wheel 1/4 turn then adjusting so many rockers then turning another 1/4 turn ect. ect.

Anyone know anything about this:confused:

This is how I do it.
 

Lets say you are adjusting an intake valve. Rotate the crank until the valve opens and closes fully. Keep rotating the crank slowly until the exhaust valves starts to open. That should put the intake lobe at the right spot to adjust it. I have been doing it this way for years and never had a problem. Adjustment for the exhaust valve is vise versa.


Just watch out that you are not trying to adjust the valve on the intake stroke. That is the point where the exhaust valve closes and the intake starts to open at TDC. Do a full rotation to make sure you are at the right point.

I hope this helps, it was the only way I know how to explain it.

Thrillseeker,

With hydraulic lifters, provided that you have a degreed harmonic balancer (to be sure, can still do without), you can start at TDC compression stroke on #1 and adjust both intake and exhaust valves, then turn the crank exactly 90 degrees and do #8 and so forth turning exactly 90 degrees for each time.
You have to make sure that you are on the compression stroke to start with (very important)!
I have done it this way for many years and it has always worked out well.

Rather than getting into a "this guy said this and that guy said that"...

Best recommendation is go to www.cranecams.com and drill into the "Installation Instructions" section. Download any of the .pdf's they have on line regarding rocker installation or even camshaft installation. Within those instructions you will find exactly what you are looking for.

He's Right
 

John is right, you can do it that way as well. I guess the main thing to know is that the valve is in the full closed position before adjusting it, and there are many ways to figure that out.

Here's another way..........Turn the engine clockwise...........

When the exhaust valve starts opening (goes down), Adjust the intake.
When the intake valve just starts coming off of max lift (goes up) adjust the exhaust.

Hope this helps
This will work for either lash (solid cams), or preload (hydraulics).

RJ

As for the 1/2 turn method, I know there is a chart somewhere that says start at TDC, rotate, & adjust #xI, and #xE & so on........that way sucks so it one of the other way. I say this cause if you do it the this way, your messin with mutiple cylinders at a time (just more room for error)

the "other" method
 

Rachet, thanks! That was the method I was trying to explain earlier.

Adjust valves
 

I have found the easiest way to adjust valves is to remove the distributor cap and set it alongside the distributor. Adjust the valves of the cylinder that the rotor is pointing to. An example; when the rotor points to the #1 plug wire on the cap (or where the #1 wire would be if the cap was on the distributor) adjust the #1 cylinders valves. Rotate the crankshaft until the rotor is pointing to the next wire on the cap (example;#8 cylinders spark plug wire) and then adjust the valves on that cylinder. Adjust them all the way around the distributor cap.
This is the least confusing way to do the valves with the fewest mistakes.
Sincerely
Dennis Moore
FAMILY AND PERFORMANCE BOATING MAGAZINE

The way Dennis described is the easiest.
Just follow the firing order, can't miss.
That's how I did mine on my 66 Shelby with a solid lifter cam. Tries a few other methods and could never remember which ones were or weren't done.

Dennis, does the ignition have to be timed to do this, how do you know if the rotor is actually pointing to the correct cylinder?

Also do you adjust both intake and exhaust while on each cylinder?