Valve Adjust Done and Dusted

[Daviboy]

Well I tackled the valve adjust on my 82 SC yesterday. Got the top side covers off no problems, started on the lowers and found that my custom header on the left was fouling the cover clearance. So I had to drop the header which to be honest scared me a bit. But as the header were installed in 05 I guessed the nuts should be easy enough to loosen and for once my luck held, all six nuts loosened up and I managed to drop the header enough to get the cover off. No issues with the right side strangely enough.
Got the car to Z1 position and dived in with my home made feeler gauge device (sorry was not paying $5 odd for a piece of aluminium).
Found No 1 intake and exhaust tight could not slide in gauge, adjusted that ine
No 2 both also tight adjusted
No 3 intake was probablt twice spec 0.007-8 adjusted exhaust was tight adjusted that
No 4 both were spot on
No 5 both tight
No 6 intake above spec again and exhaust tight adjusted both.
Slapped the covers and new gaskets on and buttoned up the header again.
Have not fired her up yet as duty called but off to do it now.Hope all is well.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by Daviboy

No 3 intake was probablt twice spec 0.007-8 adjusted exhaust was tight adjusted that

Was the engine quiet before you adjusted them?

My engine had what could only be described as a soft knock only audible at idle.
It happened every second revolution so I suspected a worn or broken valve spring but as I said it was a soft knock. Not mechanical or rattly.

After a valve adjust it was quiet again.

No4 on mine were both almost double the spec like yours and the the rest were all over the place like yours but closer to spec.

[snbush67]

Originally Posted by Daviboy

Have not fired her up yet as duty called but off to do it now.Hope all is well.

Duty?...WTH could have possibly kept you from firing that puppy up? I can only picture that Viagra commercial where the guy is washing the car, and leaves it all soapy to go get a quickie.

Even with that, get off the computer and go fire it up all-ready.

[Daviboy]

sc_rufctr
yes it was reasonably quiet but as I had no idea when last adjustment was done I decided to do it anyway. Must say it is considerably quieter since I did it.

[Daviboy]

Snbush67
Well I had been under the car most of the day was covered in oil and dirt and had to break off to do some running around, and by the time I got everything buttoned up it was 5:30 and I had my daughters 12th birthday party starting at 6 so had to jump in the shower quick. Anyway I fired her up this morning and she started but seems to be running a bit rough she is quieter at idle, but under load under 2,000 rpm I am getting an exhaust pop and seems to be holding back. About 2,000 rpm power comes through but still seems to be holding back. Got her up to operating temp and idle was a bit low so increased it to +/- 900 rpm again, checked timing and it was off about 2 degrees so got that set again. Took her out again but still running a bit rough, so richened up the mix but no difference, still getting exhaust pop. Any ideas??

[barndoor]

Was the car running good before the valve adjustment ?

[snbush67]

I think the exhaust pop would indicate that it is too rich, what changes have you made recently, spark plugs, gap? I would pull a couple of the plugs and check them out.

This one sounds like it could actually be your mixture, but double check all your plug wires to make sure that they are fully connected, routed properly, not shorting out and that they are each sending a good spark. Also check your green wire to your distributor to make sure it isnt grounding.

Good Luck,

Shane

[Daviboy]

barndoor yes it was running fine?

[Daviboy]

snbush67
No other changes except for the valve adjustment. The plug wires are all in connected and routed properly in place and nothing shorting out. I think it is too rich but ran out of time today again will tackle it tomorrow with a clear head.

[barndoor]

since so many of your valves were off when you did the adjustment,I think you adjusted them incorrectly.The engine was not on the proper cylinder.I would re-adjust the valves.

[Daviboy]

barndoor
with all due respect when I lined up to the Z1 mark the distributor lined up perfectly to the notch so I dont think I was one the wrong cylinder. I read Waynes section and some of the tech articles here before I started.

[Daviboy]

Well I knew I had the cylinders lined up properly before the valve adjust. I am such an idiot though and after sleeping on it the solution came to me this morning like a revelation. For some reason I had set my ignition timing at Z1 at idle. Now having a non US ROW car I should have been setting at 25 deg BTDC at 4000 rpm. So this morning I got her started let her warm up then annoyed the neighbours by jamming the accelerator so I showed 4000 rpm then adjusted timing to 25 deg BTDC. Unhooked the timing light and voila she purred like a kitten. Took her out for a thrash and lo and behold smooth power all the way through the rev band no hesitation no holding back, think I may even have unleashed some extra power.