i cant see the engine running for more than a few seconds if you tried non SA rockers without guidplates, there would be absolutly nothing keeping the roller tip on the vavle stem...it would be a tangeled pushrod mess of a valvetrain in like 5 seconds...comp r's, if your using them, are very hard to adjust, i recommend hot-lashing them, only way ive been able to keep mine from clanking...good luck

 

No need for ramps or big breaker bar when adjusting your valves
w/out your motor running. JUst use your starter to turn over
your engine....I do it all the time. You can use a remote starter
button or have a friend inside the vehicle using the ignition
switch.

Emil :93 Z

 

He says in his post he has the GM RR's that come in the hot cam kit.

 

i usually do all my hydrolic stuff with the engine off and set it one cylinder at a time instead of using the batch method. and its always been right for me. doing it like that. its really hard to screw up rocker adjustment with hydrolic stuff on stock type lifters because theres a wide range of adjustment built into them. i usually use 1/4 turn past zero lash because i've found it to give me a little better top end in a few cases over 1/2 turn. if your sa rockers are flopping off of the valve you probably dont have them tight enough. also note that the rocker is kept in line by the pieces of the rocker on each side of the roller tip it acts as a guide plate only its at the valve end of the operation. so make sure they're actually making contact with your valve tip by wiggling them. and if your poly's are tight when you go back to readjust them thats not your problem. and dont be afraid to tighten those suckers up good. last but not least make sure the flat side of your roller trunion is facing the poly not saying your stupid but sometimes people miss that theres a certain way it has to be oriented. the most important part of adjusting the rocker is finding zero lash everything else is based on that with the engine off. try the spinning pushrod method as you finger tighten it and feel for the drag and then back it off and try it a couple more times just with your finger before you decide what to call zero lash and then tighten it your 1/4 turn or whatever you like. after a couple of times you should have a really good feel for it and you shouldnt need to readjust them. and its easy to remember the proceedure for lashing valves. when the exhaust starts to open lash the intake and when the intake is pretty much closed lash the exhaust. the important thing is the lifter be on the base circle. the other thing you can do is bring the piston to tdc on the compression stroke and then set both of them whatever you feel comfortable with. i hope at least a little of that rambling helps you out.

 

the only problem with spinning the pushrod with your fingers to find zero lash is, when you feel friction on the pushrod it is actually past zero lash. The ends of the pushrods are polished and with oil on them they are very slick so your won't be able to feel a little bit of pressure on them. You should wiggle them up and down to make sure there is no play left in them before going your 1/4 turn.

 

let me clarify when i feel zero lash its on the poly lock not on the pushrod i was using the spinning pushrod to help him get a feel for it. and you cant wiggle the pushrod and find it either because theres side play on the rocker. as i said before theres a wide range of adjustment in a hydrolic setup. you'll also notice i dont take my to 1/2 turn i only use a 1/4 turn. so any variation should be taken care of my stuff is consistant and thats what matters to me. and i promise what i told the kid to do will absolutely work.

 

How's the geometry: are the push rods stock?

Your springs should be stout enough, so that's sounds ok.

The lashing method of twirling the pushrod to find 0 lash and going 1/4 to 1/2 more is somewhat subjective, since it is dependant upon each persons feel for 0 lash. E.g., one person might determine 0 lash to early and when applying 1/2 turn past 0 wind up with 1/8 lash which might be too loose. Another person might find 0 lash later and wind up with more than 1 full turn past 0 which might be a bit too tight.

I would try the 1/2 past 0 with the engine off and then if it is overly noisy, indicating that the lash is too loose, turn it another 1/4 to 1/2 until the noise is more acceptiable.

I say this because I had 2 RRs come off the valves recently and $2100.00 later, I have stronger spings, better geometry (push rods were a bit too long (.050+) and the lash was set at one full turn since the 1/2 turn still made them too noisy.

I hope this takes care of the problem since I don't really know what caused the damage. Others may take exception to my observation (or rather that of my "new" mechanic) however after dropping a valve and 2 valves kissing the pistonsions, I advise that you error on the side of safety when it comes to the valve train, unless you can absolutely isolate the problem.

BTW, mechanic advised that I go from 5w-30 to something like 10w-40 since he said my lifters were bleeding down quite fast with the Mobil one synthetic.

And yes, all these things go against all the advice I've seen and taken on this site, but regarding valve train adjustments and oil, etc., but when you own a $50,000 camaro, you become a bit gun shy when it comes to mods.JMHO