FE Valve lash

[Michael C Henry]

Do the lash requirements stay the same for most Cams ? I have a 427 SO w/Dove alluminum heads ,Dove roller rockers and a Crower cam with shell solid lifters.Do I stay with original FE spects or does this cam take a different settings?

[SCOBRAC]

Most FE cams have zero lash, they are hydraulic. As for mechanical units, If you are using an exotic alloy or aluminum valve train I would say first refer to your cam and or valve train company for specific data regarding your equipment. That said, on all carbon and stainless steel valves yes, you can use a Ford guideline of .025" (hot). Hot is described as 30 min. of idle (no load) .

Other sources will give you cold adjustment specs. Cold adjustment will give more lash to compensate for thermal expansion but may tend to be less accurate. Error on the side of caution in either case. It is better to be a few thousands loose than a hundredths tight.

[chopper]

Your 427 should have solid lifters, unless it's one of the relatively uncommon '68 engines which were drilled for the hydraulic lifters.

My Crane cam came with instructions for adjusting the valves to 0.022 inches HOT or 0.025 inches COLD. This measurement assumes you have stock (cast iron) cylinder heads. It's my understanding that most mechanics recommend adjusting the valves HOT since this sets the clearance at the proper gap for actual running conditions. Having said that, I tried it both ways and found that the two methods resulted in a difference of less than 0.002 inches.

If you are running aluminum heads; this will make a difference because the aluminum heads expand more than iron heads when they heat up, resulting in an increased clearance. I have Edelbrock aluminum heads on my car and I reduced the clearances from 0.022 inches HOT to 0.014 inches HOT under directions from the builder and Edelbrock.

[Michael C Henry]

Crower said .022 intake and .024 exhaust hot. Does that sound OK? If it weren't for the side pipes I think it would be noisy like an industrial sewing machine.

[Michael C Henry]

I tried .022" &.024" .When it warmed up, after a small trip out to Spanaway and back, it ratteled like hell.I'm shuttijng it down to .014". Push rods are all straight but would have thought they were all bent by the way it sounded.

[bmalone]

You should check with the cam mfg., because maybe you are running an ultra-aggressive lift cam. For the most part, .024 cold is a good starting point and most FE motors/cams respond to this. Mine are .024 cold; my cam is a relatively mild .579 lift. Sounds like Chopper is on the right track with his comments about alum. heads.

[Michael C Henry]

I just removed the intake manifold.I located the pushrods in same holes they came from.Rocker shafts went back on the sides they came from.First time only thing out of adjustment was #7 intake ,had to tighten.Ran the car out to Spanaway and back .Had to tighten every thing.Went to .014" cold.Warmed up ,re adjusted(tightened again ) to .022" and .024 hot.Lifters were never lifted out of bores.Heads wern't removed.Rocker shafts are on studs and have bolts at ends. Where is all the adjustment going ? I can't see any metal in oil puddels in head. do cams go flat after years of no trouble ?

[chopper]

You have to make sure you get the lifter on the flat part of the cam when you adjust it. With these high profile, long duration cams most of us use, the standard practice of rotating the cam to TDC on #1 and then setting half of the valves, then rotating to 360 out from TDC and adjusting the other half usually won't work. It's a pain but you really need to rotate the crank to TDC for each cylinder and adjust the valves there. Keep in mind that, by conventional agreement, the duration measurement for the cam lobe starts where the lift is already at 0.050 inches. You have to get the lifter sitting on the lowest part of the lobe, which is 180 camshaft degrees (360 crankshaft degrees) out from the high point. If you don't do this, your clearances will not be correct, and it will show up as too much clearance when you check later.

[Michael C Henry]

I'm sure that I have each valve at TDC. Every adjustment has been to tighten.I'm looking for a filter cutter.When I went back together all adjustments were correct except for #7 intake which was loose.I put 1300 miles on the car in the last two years without messing with the valves and wouldn't have bothered but for getting the manifold worked on.

[gsharapa]

I have a 514 with aluminum heads and Ford recommends .025 hot. The problem is to consistently get them all set at .025 which is very difficult to do as the aluminum heads cool off so fast.

I found that .018 cold ends up at .024 hot on my 514. On a solid roller if you tighten them up you really won't hurt anything as long as you do not go down close to zero. Tightening them actually moves the tork curve up to a higher rpm which is great on a big stroker motor as it has too much tork already for a 2,400 lb Cobra. At .018 cold on my 514, the lifters are not as noisy and the car really pulls! I also do each lift individually!

[Michael C Henry]

I removed the oilfilter. Removed the left valvecover,removed the rocker assy.,I removed and examined several of the lifters on that side and they appear OK. #7 intake will not come out.It rises about 1/2" and stops. My tool will not pull it past that point . All other lifters can be removed. What an operation trying to get them back into the bores.Am I prepaired for what's next?Is there any advise from the crowd? What's next?

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Michael;
I'm afraid you have a mushroomed lifter. The bottom is worn and spread so it won't come out easily. Also if it that bad there is a good chance your cam lobe is worn also. A new cam and lifter set looks like the fix. The best way to get it out is to remove the cam and push the lifter down without dropping it down into the engine. If you yank it out the top,you may scratch the lifter bore but it would be easier, the lifter is ruined anyway so you can put vise grips on it and slowly wiggle sideways,back and forth as you pull up on it.
good Luck,
Perry.

[Michael C Henry]

I have a 427 sideoiler w/ 27000 miles probably ten years. I t has a Crower solid cam and shell lifters.It ran great .I had no indication that there was a problem when I removed the intake to have some work performed. When I reaasemble dI had one valve setting that wasn't correct. #7 intake was loose. I have since found that# 1 ex and #7 int are mushroomed and will not come out the usual way The cam is suspected to be going flat .Any reccamendations Brands ?Grinds ? shell lifter again or roller setup.I'v removed Intake manifoled ,water pump,all free lifters.The lifter bores have oil gallery hole I'll invesrigate and see if the gallery is functional.I understood that the only 427's with hydralic lifters were 68 T bird.Am I wrong?Any easy ways to tell if the lifter gallery is functional?I remember blocking off lifter galleries in a 428 and 406 to get more oil to crank. I remember reading that Brent lost a roller during breakin .Why?