[nero]

Hi, I am planning to replace my head gaskets as part of my winter project. I am comfortable with all of the steps except for adjusting the rocker arms / pushrods when re-installing the heads. I have read that the process also changes depending on what type of rocker arms you have? Does anyone have instruction on how to adjust them?

Thanks!

[mustang95 5.0]

adjusting you have to be careful this is the way my father and i i did it when we put new rocker arms and pivots on my car, once you have the push rods and the rocker arms set tighten the bolt a little bit, start the engine and slowly and evenly tighten the bolts giving them some time to adjust as you are tightening them. you cant just tighten them, slowly do one at a time evenly keeping them the same until you tighten them all the way down evenly, takes a while at first they will make a ticking sounds until they are all the way adjusted then it will sound smooth when there completely tightened. you have to tighten them very slowly so they adjust. i would suggest having a rag towel to put under the head when your tightening them cause oil will come out from the push rods. and always make sure the push rod and the rocker arm is set correctly when doing this. That is the way i was taught how to adjust the rocker amrs, its more tideious then hard

[86er]

if its factory rocker arms, just torque them to 22ft lbs and be done with it, nothing fancy

[nero]

Thanks for the replies. I doubt they are stock. I wish they were as that sounds too easy. I have not had the engine apart yet, it was rebuilt before I bought it and I was told the cam was replaced along with the rocker arms, pushrods etc but not sure exactly what they were replaced with. Any other suggtions on how to adjust them, not sure if I feel comfortable adjusting them while the engine is running.

[badshoe]

If it has been running ok before and your just replacing a head gasket and if it has pedestal rocker arms, there's no adjustment, just torque them down as 86er said. You will need to watch for shims under the rockers and/or different length pushrods but if you keep the parts in the order you remove them, your fine. If it has studded rockers that are adjustable, then there is a procedure for those.

[86er]

are the heads stock? if so then any rocker that bolts to a stock head is bolted down the same way torque to 22ft lbs

[nero]

No they are not stock heads, they are aluminum heads. Ok may be a stupid question, but once I get everything aprt, how do I tell if it does have pedestal rocker arms or studded rocker arms?

[86er]

do the rockers have allen headed bolts that hold them down or do this sit down on a 3/8 or 7/16th stud?

and you can get aluminum heads that use stock style rockers fyi

[nero]

Thanks. I have not even pulled the valve cover but I will this weekend to take a look and post a picture. I actually hope they are stock style rockers so I can do this myself as this car has ate away at my funds over the last few months. I still doubt that I will see stock style rockers as I have Edelbrock valve covers which are much taller than stock, so I expect to find something other than stock style. I will post up a pick as soon as I can. Thanks for the help.

[86er]

adjusting valves even stud mounts arent hard at all.

when you put the heads etc on, put each rocker arm on and just tighten them down finger tight.

then pick a cylinder to start with. Roll the motor over till the intake rocker moves as far as it will. Go to the exhaust rocker, finger tighten it again, then give it a snug with the wrench, then lock down the center screw on the bolt.

then rotate the motor over till the exhaust rocker has moved as far as it will. Repeat the above step on the intake rocker. Do this on each cylinder.

I have never had a problem setting rockers this way. Hope it helps

[302Army187]

Adjusting Stud Mount Rockers - and checking pushrod length

good luck!

[ddarkslayer]

YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.

YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.

[nero]

Right on, thanks. Everything makes sense to me now thanks to your replies. Just want to make sure I have it right. Here is a picture of what I have. They are crane cam roller rockers and they have an allen bolt and not a stud so they are pedestal mount right? So all I have to do is take them out along with any shims, make sure they go back in the same spot and touque to 22ft lbs? Do I have to make sure the valve is open as far as it can go before I tourque it down or with pedestal mounts can you just tourque them down without doing this step?

[JBIGBOOTSY]

It's hard to tell. But I think they are ped. mount from the lack of guideplates.

[86er]

yes those are pedastil mount, just torque the bolt to 22lb ft and walk away

[ryans88gt]

Agreed, they are pedestal 22 ft lbs.

just make sure it doesn't take more than 1 full turn past zero lash to get to 22 ft lbs. if it does you may need some shims.

[nero]

Perfect. Thanks for all the replies.

[baine21225]

here is a similar question, didn't want to open a new thread. if i have the upper/lower intake off and heads (original) still on, but the rockers, springs, pushrods, etc (all original valvetrain) have been loosened/removed can i just put it back together and torque everything down or do i need to rotate the engine as i do everything?

[baine21225]

really? no one?

[86er]

yeah, just put it all together and torque down the rockers, no need to rotate the motor over