Valve Adjustment - First Timer

[Lmarche]

http://youtu.be/68vmdOfeQdE , here'a also the "backside" method, I think this is what sand_man suggested.
Enjoy.

[Nick Triesch]

Here is the deal....I have adjusted valves using the feeler gauge all my life. But the Kirk tool will adjust them to spec with perfect results. Every time. Perfect. There cannot be an error. I bought the tool.

[kodioneill]

Originally Posted by yelcab1

I am amused to see so many opinions on a simple ... task.

It's hardly a simple task to someone who is not a mechanic.

[Smoove1010]

When I did my top-end I used the traditional method, and double-checked using the back-side method; both methods seemed to work fine and achieved similar results for me. (And it's a job made super-easy by having the engine on a stand.) The kirk-tool method appeals to me because (as others have said) it uses an empirical measurement and takes away the variable of "feel."

I've been adjusting valves on various types of cars since I was 16, and one question always dogged me: Some feel it's OK to check valve lash and leave each adjuster alone if the clearance is good as-is. Others insist that you have to adjust each one to spec from scratch.

What's the prevailing forum wisdom on check-and-move-on vs. adjust-from-scratch, and why?

GK

[Nick Triesch]

You do not have to start from scratch. If you move your pulley to a certain valve and the gauge goes in and feels perfect, then you are done. Doing it all over is just a waste of time. Kind of like having perfectly fine fuel injectors rebuilt.

[sand_man]

A really old thread, with my thoughts on the backside method, with some other tips:
backside valve adjustment - my thoughts