adjusting valves/ stud mount?? PKRWUD? Anyone??

Hey guys. I have a rebuilt 306 with the mods in my sig. I have the Edel. alum. heads #6025 w/ 2.02/1.60 valves and stud mounted rockers. A rocker arm on my driver's side of the motor is beginning to make some noise. It sounds a little loose...like it's coming off of the pushrod maybe. I've listened to the noise from every possible angle with a mechanics stethoscope. My Dad has as well...and he's a veteran hot rodder from back in the day that knows his stuff. He agrees with me that it is not a collapsed lifter or anything, and that I probably just need to readjust my valves. The rocker noise gets louder once the motor warms up. I'm going to rip the upper manifold & valve covers off in the next week or two and try to conquer this valve adjusting task. I've been doing a little research on another message board and thought I'd share the results with you. They linked me to some Crane rocker arm installation instructions and said to start with step-4. Here is the link. Scroll down to the bottom and read STEP-4.
http://64.90.9.168/cranecams/pdf/425e.pdf

What I'm wondering is if there is an exact way to do the proper adjusting? It just seems strange to me that Crane would recommend turning the motor over until the intake valve is 2/3rds of the way closed, in order to tighten the exhaust valve? Does that sound right? Is adjusting the valves on stud mounted rockers pretty easy when using hydraulic lifters? Once they pump up do they just make up any minute amount of play or anything in the valve train? Because Crane also says once you've tightened the valve down to zero lash that you "turn the nut down 1/2 to 1 turn", and then tighten the set screw while holding the hex nut. So how do you know if you should turn it just a half of a turn or a full turn? Any of you gearheads do this stuff for a living? Any pointers you can give me? PKRWUD? Sorry this is so long...I can get a bit overdescriptive at times. Thanks in advance guys.

So no one knows, huh? Come on, some of you guys have gotta know how to adjust your valves...(stud mounted) Anyone??!! Please!!! Help...

[PKRWUD]

1) Install all 16, and snug down the nuts by hand.

2) Rotate the engine until the balancer reads TDC on the compression stroke.

3) Check the rotor in the distributor, and verify that it is pointing at the #1 wire on the cap. If it's not, rotate the engine 360 degrees.

4) To find the point of zero lash, spin the pushrod between your thumb and forefinger while slowly tightening the nut with a 1/4" drive ratchet. Tighten the following rockers until you feel the first bit of drag on the spinning pushrod:
Cylinder #1 intake and exhaust,
Cylinder #3 exhaust,
Cylinder #4 intake,
Cylinder #7 exhaust,
Cylinder #8 intake.

5) Now tighten each of those 3/4 of a turn, and lock them.

6) Rotate the engine 360 degrees, so the balancer reads TDC again.

7) With a 1/4" ratchet, tighten these rockers (again, to zero lash):
Cylinder #3 intake,
Cylinder #2 exhaust,
Cylinder #7 intake,
Cylinder #6 exhaust.

8) Now tighten each of those 3/4 of a turn, and lock them.

9) Rotate the engine 90 degrees, and with the ratchet, tighten to zero lash on these rockers:
Cylinder #2 intake
Cylinder #4 exhaust
Cylinder #5 intake and exhaust
Cylinder #6 intake
Cylinder #8 exhaust

10) Now tighten each of those 3/4 of a turn, and lock them.

That's it.

Take care,
~Chris

Thanks SO MUCH Chris. You rock. So you have a shop where you work on Mustangs & other cars...in Ventura County somewhere? I'd love to know the address of the shop just in case I ever come across something I can't handle. I'm in Simi Valley, so you are somewhat close to me.

Thanks again-
Shad

[PKRWUD]

My business is a mobile auto repair, but I only work by appointment. You can get a hold of me via email at:

pkrwuds@pacbell.net

Take care,
~Chris

Good to know. I'll keep you in mind.

Just wanted to thank you again for your help Chris. The valve adjusting went smoothly, the ticking rocker is now gone. I had to replace 2 pushrods that had gotten a little roughed up and scratched on the end that the rocker sits on. After I put everything back together I discovered that the pushrod that was damaged the most was clogged! The hollow center where the oil comes up through had actually somehow gotten clogged from some gasket material or something else. Weird, huh? Have you ever ran across a clogged pushrod? Is this a common thing that could occur again? Now I wish I would have pulled out all 16 pushrods and check them. But it's all back together now and sounds fine, so hopefully it will be ok. I change my oil religiously every 3,000 miles if not sooner. My oil is always clean. It must have been a piece of stray gasket or gasket sealer (RTV). I didn't have a chance to see the chunk that had clogged it because I blew on the pushrod and it shot out across the garage like a frickin blow gun...& couldn't find the projectile.

[PKRWUD]

I've seen them clogged often in engines that only did around town driving, and didn't get their oil changed regularly. Something you can do, that will help the other push rods, is to add a quart of Slick 50 the next time you change the oil. Now, I know how everyone feels about Slick 50, and I've seen the stories, but I'm telling you from first hand experience, it works, and it won't damage your engine. It's the only additive I believe in, but I believe in it whole-heartedly, no matter what everyone else says.

Take care,
~Chris

Thanks for the slick 50 tip. I do a lot of around town driving. And my car rarely sees the freeway, really. If it does it's usually just for a few miles at most. Plus, my car did sit for a while (a couple of years) when I was having problems getting it smogged. But it's been back on the road now for a little over a year. Sounds like it's time to change my oil again. Thanks again.