Im redoing my valve lash for these stupid comp R's and want to know what that quote from shoebox means, i thought it meant the spring started to compress or the valve opening.

 

your post isnt too clear...

Are you asking what it looks like when a valve moves up? If so, the spring will decompress and become taller..

 

Now you know what I mean, this is what shoebox's site says...

Turn the engine in the normal direction of rotation until the exhaust lifter for a cylinder starts to move up, then adjust the intake valve to zero lash and add your preload. Turn the engine over again until the intake opens completely and then is almost all the way back down. Now, set the exhaust valve to zero lash and add your preload.

I know what a valve looks like by the way, just wanted to clarify what he's saying on his site as to when im supposed to adjust which valve

 

I'm not sure how to make that more clear. You turn the engine over until the exhaust valve begins opening - then adjust intake. Continue turning engine until intake begins to close and adjust exhaust valve.

 

There are two handy little feature called the search button and private messaging!

 

Right. It's the same thing.

The reference to the lifter is made because the lifter will always follow the cam lobe whether or not the rocker is even close to proper adjustment.

 

Crane Cams Lifter Preload tech page

The best reading. A ton of good learning on that page. Note that a stock lifter needs at least .020" preload and that is about 1/4 a turn depending on the rocker stud threads per inch that you have.

I do know where you are comming from because that adjustment description you mentioned from Shoebox can be confusing. especially when one says "when lifter raises" and then mix that with valve movement. The valve is certainly moving down, (opening) when the lifter is moving up....but that is not so intuitive. It's a fair question and a good question. Takes a few times thinking it through. The Crane site is awesome and very well written.

Karl Ellwein

 

Comp R lifters would be more like 1/8 to 1/4 turn.

Also, make sure you know which valves are opening and closing, the valves in a chevy head are EI IE EI IE.

 

Howstuffworks.com should have some real simple diagrams of how the valvetrain works, for those that don't find lifter and valve movement intuitive.

 

If you don't know or find a well explained sight confusing maybe you should not be adjusting the valves.
Take it to a tech and have them do it before something gets screwed up.

 

How bout you keep your comments to yourself, considering I just finished the H/C install by myself, got the car started, ran fine. I just had a question about these lifters b/c i've never adjusted them with the car off b4.

 

I could never seem to get them adjusted quite right with the car off. I find it much easier just to do it while the car is running.

 

Easy, I don't think he meant to be a jerk, just trying to prevent you from damaging your engine.

 

1st rule in teaching and tech writing.
When the reader finds it a bit difficult to cipher, it's not the readers fault.
It is the teacher-writer's fault.
Writing clear and easy to understand tech articles is not easy.
Thanks goes out to Shoebox for the tech article.
Instructions usually can be written different ways to make them even more clear after you look at the original writing a million times.
So when talking about valves opening and then diverting to lifter movement, (when the reader's mindes eye was on the valve), then that is certainly somewhat confusing).
This is the area...Turn the engine in the normal direction of rotation until the exhaust lifter for a cylinder starts to move up, then adjust the intake valve to zero lash and add your preload. Turn the engine over again until the intake opens completely and then is almost all the way back down . Now, set the exhaust valve to zero lash and add your preload.

That is good stuff. But do you see how it moves your eye from the lifter and then toward the "intake"? The intake what? The intake valve I know, but we were just reading about the lifter.

1racerdude, cut the question asker 97s10ondubs some slack until you become perfect in all that you do.

Karl Ellwein

 

Maybe it could use a little tweak (and I will go over it), but you purposely did not highlight the portion in between what you highlighted that says "then adjust the intake valve. That is the "intake what". That's not the writer's fault.

Movement begins at the lifter and is transferred to the valve via the rocker arm. If someone was starting out with all the rockers loose, none of the valves would move as the cam was rotated. That is why the lifter movement is referred to first, and then the valve.

I try to be clear as I can, it is not always going to be as simple as a "Dummies" book. Anyone that is adjusting their valve should have a little idea of what they are doing.

I often take suggestions from people when something is hard to understand, yet this has been read by hundreds or maybe thousands of times by people and only 2 have seen fit to complain about it.

I don't get paid for writing this stuff, you know. If the article misleads people, it can be removed in a few seconds.