Adjusting V8 valve clearance

[sals54]

Mike,
I thought that the 289, being bigger and much more powerful and hence not really needing to prove itself to the lowly underpowered and underachieving 259, would therefore not have to assert its 289 bravado to the level the 259 would be striving for. The 259 is always having to work harder to prove itself to the larger, younger brother 289. We can see that the 259 is always going to be noisier as it makes feeble attempt after feeble attempt to try to overshadow its bigger brother. That, then would mean that the 289 would carry with it an inherent "quiet giant" attitude and not be as noisy as the diminutive 259. Any normal person can see that this is nothing more than a sibling rivalry gone terribly wrong.

sals54

[showbizkid]

quote:Originally posted by Dwain G.I did that series for our chapter newsletter over 25 years ago. They're aimed at the inexperienced hobbyist.

I'd welcome more of those. Speaking for the rest of us inexperienced hobbyists (there's a lot of us out here!) I have lots of book knowledge, but the practical stuff is harder coming.


[img=left]http://members.cox.net/clarknovak/lark.gif[/img=left]

Clark in San Diego
'63 F2/Lark Standard

http://studeblogger.blogspot.com

https://www.studebakersandiego.com

[LarkVIII]

Mine sounds like a herd of Harleys with the exhaust manifolds off [}]

63VY4 Leakin' Lena Hagerstown MD

[BobPalma]

quote:Originally posted by showbizkid

quote:Originally posted by Dwain G.I did that series for our chapter newsletter over 25 years ago. They're aimed at the inexperienced hobbyist.

I'd welcome more of those. Speaking for the rest of us inexperienced hobbyists (there's a lot of us out here!) I have lots of book knowledge, but the practical stuff is harder coming.


Clark in San Diego

Thanks for the confirmation, Clark, of this being needed material. I monitor the types of questions the various Advisors receive for The Co-Operator. I kept seeing frequent inquiries about basic items, so thought Dwain's material would be appreciated. Too, by answering several questions at one time, we can refer future readers back to a certain group of pages in a previous Co-Operator, for answers when the same question comes up later on, from a "newbie."

In this case, Dwain's material details finding #1 TDC when you pulled a distributor and forgot where the rotor was, or someone cranked the engine with the distributor out, and then how to set basic ignition timing and cold valve adjustment on a static engine. Dwain's material has nice graphics, too. It will be three of The Co-Operator's five pages in the August 2008 Turning Wheels. BP

[StudeMann]

Be careful!

I tried the cold valve adjustment on my 232 that I found in the thread below.

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18299&SearchTerms=valve,adjustment

In this 'quick' method you find TDC #1 compression stoke and adjust certain valves, then turn the crank 360 degrees and adjust several others including some of the ones previously adjusted in step 1. This is supposed to be a quick and easy method. I was getting inconsistent clearance readings on some of the valves as I would adjust them the second time so I went through this method about 3 times.

I was still getting some inconsistent clearance readings so I decided to use the 'slow' method by adjusting both valves on each cylinder turning the engine through the firing order. When I did this I found some of the valve clearances to be quite a bit off even after going through the quick method 3 times. I can only surmise that the cam lobes for some valves were not quite in the neutral positions at some points in the quick method. Has anyone else tried this method and had similar results?

I now have all the valves adjusted evenly using the 'slow' method and I'm cleaning and painting the valve covers before I see how much she rattles now.

"Ahh, a bear in his natural habitat...a Studebaker!"
Fozzie Bear in 'The Muppet Movie'

51 Land Cruiser (Elsie)
Jim Mann
Victoria, B.C.
Canada

[Dan Timberlake]

The "quick" method sounds a little too quick. There should have been one or two 180 degree turns in there.

The 1959 Edsel manual has a procedure that sets them in (3) crank moves. It starts with #1 at the TDC near ignition point, set (3) intakes and (3) ex.
Turn 180 and set (2) int and (2) ex.
Turn 270 and set (3) intakes and (3) ex.

FORD numbers its V8 cylinders funny, so I won't post the cyl numbers
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The 1959 Studebaker manual says to adjust each cylinder at it's firing TDC, and to determine that with a test light across the ignition points. If I followed the firing order 18436572 it would take 2 full revolution in 90 degree steps to finish 'em up.

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1968 Plymouth Shop manual sets a 426 Hemi's "tappets" in 4 180 degree rotations, but never the intake and exhaust for the same cylinder at the same time. 426 firing order is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 with #1 on US driver's side

[Tom Bredehoft]

If you have a chance, (harmonic balancer off) make a circle of typing paper, the same diameter as the balancer. fold it in half, and again, fold it in half (quarters.) Open it up and lay it on the balancer. Place one fold on the TDC #1 mark, and mark (with a file) the other three marks. Paint all four marks white. When you install the balancer, you will easily be able to see when each of the cylinders (in order) is at TDC. This told me by Mike Myer. It works a charm.

[img=left]http://www.alink.com/personal/tbredehoft/Avatar.jpg[/img=left]
Tom Bredehoft
'53 Commander Coupe
'55 President (6H Y6) State Sedan
(Under Construction) 353 hrs.
'05 Legacy Ltd Wagon
All Indiana built cars

[StudeMann]

The 'quick' method struck me as odd when it included adjusting some of the valves more than once in the sequence. However, some of the responses in the original forum thread agreed that this method was valid. Based on my experience I don't think it's quite right.

This winter I will pull the motor and transmission to clean, paint, replace gaskets & seals etc. and then I will mark the harmonic balancer as you suggested, Tom. It will make it easier to find TDC on each cylinder. This time I was just watching the the distributor rotor position. I will also replace the adjuster on #2 intake because it's too easy to turn and I suspect it will slip out of adjustment fairly quickly. I'm not planning to pull the engine apart and rebuild but you never know what might happen. Maybe I will replace the front wiring harness while the engine bay is clear. Maybe I will...

Cheers.

"Ahh, a bear in his natural habitat...a Studebaker!"
Fozzie Bear in 'The Muppet Movie'

51 Land Cruiser (Elsie)
Jim Mann
Victoria, B.C.
Canada

[fmarshall]

For those of you who haven't seen this, this is a video of the inside of a running cylinder:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec0tczrYuYc

You will notice that after the intake valve is fully closed, and the piston is on its way up (being compressed), that both the exhaust and intake valves are completely closed. That is when to adjust valve lash.

I always use a remote starter and watch the intake valve shaft go down and then come up. When it is all the way up, I adjust both the intake and exhaust. And it doesn't matter what cylinder I start with.

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63 Avanti R2, 4-Speed, 3.73 TT
Martinez, CA