PONTIAC POWER RULES ! ! !

Setting Valve Lash

You will need a mark on the dampener at 180 degrees from TDC.If yours doesn't have a mark,take a piece of string or straight edge and go from the TDC mark through the crank bolt and make a mark on the other side of dampener.This doesn't have to be perfect.

Number 1 piston at Top Dead Center (TDC) on compression stroke. Adjust intake valve on #2 and #7;exhaust valves #4 and #8. Rotate crankshaft 180 degrees clockwise and adjust intake valve on #1 and #8; exhaust valves #3 and #6. Rotate crankshaft 180 degrees again (TDC) and adjust intake valves #3 and #4; exhaust valves #5 and #7. Rotate crankshaft again 180 degrees and adjust intake valves #5 and #6; exhaust valves #1 and #2. Use 7/16 studs with polylocks (locking nuts with a setscrew),turn down adjuster nut slowly while spinning pushrod back and forth with other hand until all play is removed WITHOUT pushing lifter cup down into body.You should JUST feel the pushrod get hard to spin.Then turn an additional 1/2-1 full turn and lock it.

Setting Valve Lash on Mechanical Cams

All the valves must be set individually and only when the lifter is properly located on the base circle of the lobe.
At this position the valve is closed and there is no lift taking place.
How will you know when the valve you are adjusting is in the proper position with the lifter on the base circle of the cam?
This can be accomplished by watching the movement of the valves.

1. When the engine is hot (at operating temperature) remove the valve covers and pick the cylinder that you are going to adjust.

2. Hand turn the engine in its normal direction of rotation while watching the exhaust valve on that particular cylinder.
When the exhaust valve begins to open, stop and adjust that cylinder's intake valve.
(Why? Because when the exhaust is just beginning to open, the intake lifter will be on the base circle of the lobe,
so the intake is the one we can now adjust.)

3. Use a feeler gauge, set to the correct valve lash, and place it between the tip of the valve stem and rocker arm.
Adjust until you arrive at the proper setting and lock the adjuster in place.

4. After the intake valve has been adjusted, continue to rotate the engine, watching that same intake valve.
The intake valve will go to full lift and then begin to close.
When the intake is almost closed, stop and adjust the exhaust valve on that particular cylinder.
(Again, when we see the intake valve almost closed, we are sure that the exhaust lifter is on the base circle of the lobe.)
Use the feeler gauge and follow the procedure described before in step 3.

5. Both valves on this cylinder are now adjusted, so move to your next cylinder and follow the same procedure again.
In the future you may find shortcuts to this method, but it still remains the best way to do the job correctly.

Compensating for a Cold Engine when Adjusting Valve Lash For Solid Lifters
When installing a new cam, the engine will be cold but the lash specifications are for a hot engine.
What are you to do? There is a correction factor that can be used to get close.
We mentioned that the alloy of the engine parts can be affected by thermal expansion in different ways,
therefore the amount of correction factor to the lash setting depends on whether the cylinder heads and
block are made out of cast iron or aluminum.

You can take the "hot" setting given to you in the catalog or cam specification card and
alter it by the following amount to get a "cold" lash setting.

With iron block and iron heads, add .002"
With iron block and aluminum heads, subtract .006".
With both aluminum block and heads, subtract .012".

Remember this correction adjustment is approximate and is only meant to get you close for the initial start up of the engine.
After the engine is warmed up to its proper operating temperature range,
you must go back and reset all the valves to the proper "hot" valve lash settings.

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