MonsterBilly

Yes, you adjust valves at the top of the compression stroke. That way both valves are completely closed

CyprusMustang

Ok again, I'm getting mixed answers from different people. Most are saying because I have hydraulic lifters, I just torque down the rockers to 20 lbs. can anyone justify why not tondo this as hydraulic lifters would make up for any lash??

CyprusMustang

Ok so today I took her out for a ride just to warm up the engine. When I pulled back into the house i played around with the idle mixture screws and almost got the engine vacuum needle to stop from flickering but it didn't sound as good as it did when it flickered. Also, now I'm at 16 degrees on the timing light as again it sounded better. I think I may be able to get it right tomorrow but what would you do first....

Set timing at 12 even though 16 sounds better and try and get the mixture correct?

Or leave it at 16 and try to get vacuum needle perfect even though it sounds off?

What gap should I have on the plugs. I have now .042 on the autolites.

jwog666

if your rockers are held in with bolts, then they arent adjustable, if they are mounted on studs and retained with nuts, then they are adjustable. however since u took it apart and then put it back together and it runs i doubt that your valve lash is off
how agressive is your cam? if it lopes it will cause a flickering vac guage, just not huge flicker, a little is ok with a big cam. set the timing at 12, then try to adjust the carb, what i do is pick 1 mix screw and start turniing it in till it starts to miss, i then back it out till it stops missing and then go 1/2 turn more, repeat the process for the other screw and u should have your idle mix set. do that with the engine warm and the choke off. another thing, the engine will always sound better with higher timing, but this is not a good thing, it will cause loss of power, hard starting and detonation

barnett468

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plug your vacuum advance and leave it plugged until it runs properly at which point connect it to ported vacuum, not manifold vacuum providing there is no vacuum at the ported vacuum port at idle. . . if there is then you have another problem.

you should run the most timing your engine can tolerate. this is typically around 12 degrees btdc for most street apps. your balancer might have slipped a little and/or your timing chain might be stretched so your timing may in fact not really be at 16.

if your engine turns over just as fast when it is hot as it does when it is cold, you likely do not have too much idle timing.

while counting the turns, turn both the fuel mix screws in until they stop, then turn them both out to about where they were but they must be turned out the same amount, meaning they both must be 1 1/2 turns or 2 turns etc . . one should not be 1 turn and the other 1 1/2 turns.

now you can start your fine tuning but both screws should end up close to being equal turns out in a perfect world.

if you turn a screw and it has no affect on the idle, you have a plugged idle circuit on that side.

yes, as mentioned, you can adjust your valves with each piston at tdc fire position/compression position . . you will need to put 4 lines on your damper to do this at 90 degree intervals.

CyprusMustang

I'm not sure what cam is installed but it's probably a slightly upgraded cam nothing crazy as the rest of the engine was stock. It also was bored once over in the past as the notes are 2mm bigger than normal. Other than that it was completely stock when I bought it.

I changed the pushrods and valves, water pump, intake manifold and carb when I bought it and now just changed head gaskets. My rockers are on studs held down buy a nut. Most people say they are torqued down.

It might be advanced as i get a quick hard start. Not as it was. I'll retard the timing a little and play some more with the idle mixture screws. Then I'll see how she runs and then if i have the time and patience, I'll move on to the valves.
Thanks guys