Setting valve lash on SBF
- Thread starter rob2078
- Start date
Screaming Metal
Active Member
Well, yes, it all depends on the motor. Welcome aboard here Rob! You are talking about a solid lifter cam, right? Or, are you talking about a hydraulic? Is this a fresh motor that has just been rebuilt? Or is it a motor in a T you just bought and the valves are clattering?
If its a solid, slap your remote starter button on the selanoid and back off your adjusters. Bump up on top of your compression stroke for each cylinder, while your on the base circle for that valve, set your lash to whatever your cam card says, and after you pull your feeler out, shove it right back in there, and you should have a slight drag. Gotta be careful, depending on your lobe seperation, you might have to go to each base circle.
Now with the hydraulics, I prefer to do it while the motor is running....so I have a collection of valvecovers with the tops of them cut out. I snug them down to get the motor started, get it warmed up to operating temp., then I adjust to zero lash, if you have the rocker adjusters. I spin the pushrod with my fingers.
IF you have adjustable pushrods, adjust and spin and adjust and spin.
You can preset them like the book says, you have to be careful though, if your running .525 to .550 lift, if you adjust her too tight, you could bend a valve. I have had some trash get into the lifter and cause that lifter to tap, and after a oilchange and a few miles, sometimes it'll quieten down.
With flat-top pistons and a performance cam of .550, theres not alot of room for margin. Just don't willy-nilly stick a really high lift cam into one of these motors without checking for your valve clearence....
If its a solid, slap your remote starter button on the selanoid and back off your adjusters. Bump up on top of your compression stroke for each cylinder, while your on the base circle for that valve, set your lash to whatever your cam card says, and after you pull your feeler out, shove it right back in there, and you should have a slight drag. Gotta be careful, depending on your lobe seperation, you might have to go to each base circle.
Now with the hydraulics, I prefer to do it while the motor is running....so I have a collection of valvecovers with the tops of them cut out. I snug them down to get the motor started, get it warmed up to operating temp., then I adjust to zero lash, if you have the rocker adjusters. I spin the pushrod with my fingers.
IF you have adjustable pushrods, adjust and spin and adjust and spin.
You can preset them like the book says, you have to be careful though, if your running .525 to .550 lift, if you adjust her too tight, you could bend a valve. I have had some trash get into the lifter and cause that lifter to tap, and after a oilchange and a few miles, sometimes it'll quieten down.
With flat-top pistons and a performance cam of .550, theres not alot of room for margin. Just don't willy-nilly stick a really high lift cam into one of these motors without checking for your valve clearence....
Screaming Metal
Active Member
And those running a flat tappet motor, every 4 or 5 years, if you don't pull your motors all the way down, pull off your valvecover, get a 1" travel dial indicator and base, and check your lift at your pushrod side of your rocker arm. Write these numbers down. check every valve, every cylinder on each bank. By doing this you can head off a completely wiped out lobe, dumping a bunch of metal into your oil, and wearing in your crank and rod journals with all that gnarly grit in your oil, not to mention those nice, finely honed cylinder bores!
If you notice a .010 deviation....guess what, its time for a new cam and lifters.
Those cams that have those highly worn cam lobes, its a gradual process. Once that chilled lifter has worn past that hardness on that cam or lifter bottom.....(usually about .010 thick maximum) the wear is gonna happen fast!
I've saved many a hi-dollar motor by performing this little test. It can be the best hours testing you could do for your motor.... Don't happen often, are you feeling lucky????
If you notice a .010 deviation....guess what, its time for a new cam and lifters.
Those cams that have those highly worn cam lobes, its a gradual process. Once that chilled lifter has worn past that hardness on that cam or lifter bottom.....(usually about .010 thick maximum) the wear is gonna happen fast!
I've saved many a hi-dollar motor by performing this little test. It can be the best hours testing you could do for your motor.... Don't happen often, are you feeling lucky????
Screaming Metal
Active Member
Well, I'm sure you have a Chiltons manual or something there to assist you, do whatever the book says, however many turns preload. On some models, theres no adjustments, your just along for the ride.
If it tells you to start the motor, then finish adjust, like I think it does, start the motor, it might sound a little rough until you get oil to your lifters, keep it going get it good and warm, remember to use those old blue oval rockers with the tops out, now, start to adjust each valve until thers -0- lash. If its your first time, don't worry, just don't shove your finger in the valve springs and you'll be OK. Just snug each one down until it quites ticking, what your looking for is to spin your pushrod between your fingers with -0- noise. And -0- lash.
Do each like that, but don't go any tighter than that, if you do, back off the adjuster and start to snug down slowly, then tighten the jam nut. Might take you 3 or 4 times because that rocker is moving, just atke your time.
Like I said, the majority of the time, you'll soak your lifters, then you'll pump them up, then you put them in, then the pushrods, then your rockers and shafts, then you can adjust to -0- there. BUT, I prefer to check them while the motors running, afterwards to make sure all is cool....
Cause sometimes they'll try to leak down on you before your complete. Its best to have them too loose than too tight. With a stock cam, you really gotta go way off course to mess it up....
Let us know how it works.
You might find it really overkill, but I pump mine up with a kickpress! I soak them in a can of oil for a couple of hours, then I get a piece of wood. a small piece of 2x4, stick the wood between the pushrod and the arbor(I drill a hole 1/2 way thru the 2x4 to hold the pushrod), and in a old alum. pot(I have the teflon removed) I have the lifter, submerged in motor oil. Stick the pushrod in place, and start firmly going up and down on the arbor press handle. Remember, your valvesprings are alot strong then your arms but not as string as that arbor press, so you don't have to muscle it. just pump them all up like this, and put them directly in, and start fastening things up, then you can set the last at -0- and everything shoud stay put. It shouldn't take more than 4 or 5 pumps to get it pumped completely up.....stick them back into that pan of oil, until your ready to install them.
Hope this helps....
If it tells you to start the motor, then finish adjust, like I think it does, start the motor, it might sound a little rough until you get oil to your lifters, keep it going get it good and warm, remember to use those old blue oval rockers with the tops out, now, start to adjust each valve until thers -0- lash. If its your first time, don't worry, just don't shove your finger in the valve springs and you'll be OK. Just snug each one down until it quites ticking, what your looking for is to spin your pushrod between your fingers with -0- noise. And -0- lash.
Do each like that, but don't go any tighter than that, if you do, back off the adjuster and start to snug down slowly, then tighten the jam nut. Might take you 3 or 4 times because that rocker is moving, just atke your time.
Like I said, the majority of the time, you'll soak your lifters, then you'll pump them up, then you put them in, then the pushrods, then your rockers and shafts, then you can adjust to -0- there. BUT, I prefer to check them while the motors running, afterwards to make sure all is cool....
Cause sometimes they'll try to leak down on you before your complete. Its best to have them too loose than too tight. With a stock cam, you really gotta go way off course to mess it up....
Let us know how it works.
You might find it really overkill, but I pump mine up with a kickpress! I soak them in a can of oil for a couple of hours, then I get a piece of wood. a small piece of 2x4, stick the wood between the pushrod and the arbor(I drill a hole 1/2 way thru the 2x4 to hold the pushrod), and in a old alum. pot(I have the teflon removed) I have the lifter, submerged in motor oil. Stick the pushrod in place, and start firmly going up and down on the arbor press handle. Remember, your valvesprings are alot strong then your arms but not as string as that arbor press, so you don't have to muscle it. just pump them all up like this, and put them directly in, and start fastening things up, then you can set the last at -0- and everything shoud stay put. It shouldn't take more than 4 or 5 pumps to get it pumped completely up.....stick them back into that pan of oil, until your ready to install them.
Hope this helps....
Screaming Metal
Active Member
The kickpress method seems to work really well, I've had very few bleed down on me before I installed them if you put them straight in. Remember, that lifter is trying to adjust to 0 lash, pumping them up before installation helps star the motor quicker.
fordsbyjay
Active Member
Ummm, is it even adjustable? Unless you changed the rocker studs the factory ones aren't threaded down far enough for adjustment. They were a torque down and forget it kind of thing. The factory ones are pressed in and need to be removed/replaced with screw in studs that have more threads. Assuming you have done all that the follow Mikes steps.
Like this..
http://www.alexsparts.com/products.php?product=ROCKER-STUDS,-GUIDE-PLATES-AND-PUSHRODS,-SB-FORD-289
Like this..
http://www.alexsparts.com/products.php?product=ROCKER-STUDS,-GUIDE-PLATES-AND-PUSHRODS,-SB-FORD-289
Screaming Metal
Active Member
Thanks Jay for that great link! As he said, gotta be adjustable!.
They even had some adjustable from the factory if they were the hi-perf.
Ya know, I learned a long time ago, Ford had a real kickass racing program! You could go into any Ford parts dept. and order racing cams, they even had a kit that was a complete kit, to put the smallblock 351 heads on the 289s and the 302s....it was a 45 to 50 horse bolt-on! Cam complete with bolts shims, everything but the heads, and it wasn't expensive either. A couple of my friends had me build a couple of them for them to run in Maverick and one in a Comet. KickButt little motors. Outran my allout 283 with the tunnelram, well, until I upgraded my cam and changed my rocker ratios....then I had them again.
The really high horse motors that are all out will have the short shaft kits in them, even though they were originally made for studs, the shafts are alot more stable, like in the FE series Motors. I just acquired a 460 Ford motor, early model in pristine shape, solid lifter, has a crossram on it, 2-4's, 11:1 compression, huge ports and valves.... had to horse-trade my Ford Flathead V-8 for it. It even runs....runs like ass, but does run. I'll have to work on it, of course.
They even had some adjustable from the factory if they were the hi-perf.
Ya know, I learned a long time ago, Ford had a real kickass racing program! You could go into any Ford parts dept. and order racing cams, they even had a kit that was a complete kit, to put the smallblock 351 heads on the 289s and the 302s....it was a 45 to 50 horse bolt-on! Cam complete with bolts shims, everything but the heads, and it wasn't expensive either. A couple of my friends had me build a couple of them for them to run in Maverick and one in a Comet. KickButt little motors. Outran my allout 283 with the tunnelram, well, until I upgraded my cam and changed my rocker ratios....then I had them again.
The really high horse motors that are all out will have the short shaft kits in them, even though they were originally made for studs, the shafts are alot more stable, like in the FE series Motors. I just acquired a 460 Ford motor, early model in pristine shape, solid lifter, has a crossram on it, 2-4's, 11:1 compression, huge ports and valves.... had to horse-trade my Ford Flathead V-8 for it. It even runs....runs like ass, but does run. I'll have to work on it, of course.
Mr T Bucket
Member
Having just gone through this on my sbf, what I can tell you is your hydraulic lifter's plunger has about .200" of travel, or almost 1/4". Lash should be set between 0.020" and 0.070".
fordsbyjay
Active Member
I really hate to get off topic but you have a 460 with a cross ram? Do you have any pictures? I have never seen one for a 460.
ellis8500
Member
If you have stock heads with stock pedestal mount rockers there is no adjustment. They are held in place with a 5/16 bolt. When a valve is closed bolt should be tightened to 17-23 ft-lbs. http://mackrafab.com/Ford_engine_torque_specs.htm
Screaming Metal
Active Member
Its one of those speciality items....someone built it. its done professional, and it was done good, but its not a manufactured item. Even has the top removable plate for diff. combo.'s
Was done back in the 60's though....its OLD, like me! Let me rephrase that, I'm a Classic, its OLD!
Mr T Bucket
Member
I'm jealous.
