I am trying to find tdc. I rotated the crank clockwise and it stopped. I was told that this is tdc and to set the first valve lash at this point. Is this correct?

 

Hear is a quick way to do it, take out #1 spark plug (driver side frunt) put your thumb into the plug hole and turn the motor over the compression will blow your thumb out when your at tdc.

 

Not necessarily. It can "blow your thumb out" just after BDC at the beginning of the compression stroke.
The best way I've found it is to take #1 plug out, get a McDonalds straw (because they're nice and fat and have more area to crush than a regular straw), find the compression stroke, keep turning the engine (by hand of course) until the McD's straw is completely crushed. Straw shouldn't be able to move with a moderate tug... and there you have it.
This is where a keyed hub comes in rather nicely.

 

What do you mean by crushed? OK I get a straw stick it straigt in, rotate the crank clockwise and when

1- it falls out that's tdc

or

2- when the straw is completely inside the chamber thats tdc


also what about when the crank stops on its own? What do I do then?

 

I think a little more information is in order. When you say "the crank stops on its own" do you mean that it merely becomes harder to turn or that it actually locks up and won't turn farther?

 

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#adjust_valves

 

First off, there are actually TWO Top Dead Center positions. One on the Compression Stroke and another one on the Exhaust stroke.

So, if you're trying to set your lifter preload, nope, that's not the way to go about it. A week or so ago I posted a rather long (sorry 'bout that) step by step procedure on how I (and many others) go about it.

Rather than me having to type it all over again, just do a search under my Forum name and you should be able to find it. There are other methods that will work too, and a Search will lead you to them as well.

If you get stuck and can't find them, email or PM me and I'll track it down for you.

Jake

 

It stops turning easy. now the car is in neutral and when It stops I'm hesitant about forcing more. if I force it will I mess something up or should I just power it over?

Yea I will check it out.

 

If the crank gets hard to turn then most likely you are on the compression stroke of one of your cylinders. What I've always done is just move the crank a little at a time. What I mean by "crushed" is the straw is crushed between the piston and quench area of the cylinder head.

 

Good, there isn't a problem that is locking up the rotating assembly. In the absence of that dilemma you will find plenty of advice on how to approximate the location of TDC and adjust the valves. Turning it farther won't hurt anything. One of the more frustrating deficiencies of the LT1 is the absence of a factory timing mark. Most people devise some sort of mark or pointer so that they don't have to deal with this issue everytime the valves need adjusting.

 

I think I will get a compression tester. I won't even try to act like I have the skill yet to pull this one off. Thanks for the info. you guys have given me with a lot of confidence working on my cars.

 

They make a whistle that you can insert in place of the spark plug to tell you when TDC on the compression stroke it coming up. (never had to use one, but they do make them)