As disco192 said, set it to #1 TDC and then adjust #1, then rotate the
crank 90* and adjust #8, then 90* and #4, and so on through the firing order.
When adjusting be careful that you are not applying some preload when you
barely tighten the nut. I noticed that you can easily hand tighten the nut down
past 1/16 turn easily. Work the nut back and forth while spinning the push rod
until you feel a hint of resistance (do not make it so the push rod is hard to spin).
Once you are at that hint of resistance point carefully tighten the nut the amount
that you desire (1/8 or 1/16). Once the nut is there, hold the nut while you
tighten the lock and be sure that the nut does not tighten more. Once the lock
is tight, tighten the lock and the nut together a nudge more.

This is how I did it less than one week ago with Comp "R" lifters with the lash set
to 1/8 turn with no problems at all.

 

Though I have my preload much less now, I ran my Comp R's at ½ turn for a while and it ran fine. I can't imagine this car being so touchy. There has to be some other factor(s) in play, here. The advice being given for adjustment is no different than has been given countless times before.

 

I plop all the pushrods in place, put the rockers on, but don't install the locks. I turn the crank 90 degrees at a time and then look for which pushrods are near full lift and adjust the adjacent rocker.

Slowly tighten down the lock until you hit zero lash. This is super easy if the threads are worn in and you can screw the lock down by hand. If not, jiggle the pushrod up and down and slowly tighten it down until it no longer "jiggles". I don't like the spin method, especially if there isn't any oil in the lifters.

Using your trusty allen wrench tighten the locks hard. Place a wrench on the whole lock assembly and give it a good torquing (about a 1/16 of a turn). Continue on until all locks are in place. This positively locks everything in place 1/16 of a turn over zero lash. This works very well for mine (and I've played with them a LOT)

If you're running guideplates make sure they are aligning the rocker tips over the stems. Make sure the rocker tips move over the appropriate valvestem area. Look for rocker to retainer interference. Roll the pushrods down a pane of glass to check for straightness. Be sure there are no coil bind issues.

 

If you mean they are not even in the vertical height, this is normal. Mine are that way too...I have mine set at 0 lash and I used the "spin the motor twice" method.

Like Shoebox, I have ran half-turn, quarter-turn and now zero.

Do you have access to a scanner? If so, what are the codes? It sounds like the problem occurs when you go into closed loop.

 

I havent scanned it yet.. I tried to adjust them AGAIN this time at 1/16 of a turn.. That seemed to work.. till it warmed up.. When I pull to a stop or let off the gas it dies.. The oil pressure is also extremely low.. at idle it sits in the red zone.. at 4K its at the first bar. what could cause this? It also makes a chattering sound every now and then...

 

Here is an idea and kind of a question,

How accurate is it to set your valves to Zero lash with the engine running?? My idea is to set them to Zero lash with the engine running that way you know the lifters are pumped up and then shut the engine off and set your preload. The way I did it was set the valve to zero with the engine running and then go through with a dial guage (I got mine out of my degreeing kit) and set each one to .004.

The way I set them, now correct me if I am wrong, is the way comp cams described it in their video. I would bump the engine until I would see the exhaust valve start to open and set the intake sides preload, I would then bump the engine until I seen the intake side start to close and would set the exhaust side. How accurate is this way?

My biggest question is setting the valve to zero lash, which I think i did it wrong. I heard of two ways of doing it,

the first way was to loosen the rockers up until they made noise and then turn them down by hand until the nut stopped turning. ( this is the way I did it but by "turn it until the nut stops turning" mean when it first stops turning or or keep going by hand until you can't turn it no more? I ask because you can keep turning for a little bit, it feels like a ratcheting (clicking) action until it gets to a point where it wont turn by hand no more)

The second way was loosen them up one at a time and then tighten that one until it stops making noise.

Soo, how acurate would it be to set the valves to zero lash with the engine running and then hook up the dial guage and set the preload?

 

just heat up your engine, pull the valve covers, tighten the rockers until there is NO slack. It isnt hard at all. Just make sure you are doing it at TDC for the cylinder.

Dont do the spin the pushrod method, that way doesnt really work with a hot engine. Take the pushrod side of the rockers and rock it until all slack goes away. It isnt too tough.