“Actually what I learned was that it was a great way to find out that my rocker arm tips were badly grooved. They chewed up the feeler gauge right quick.”
Carl,
This discussion reminds me of an amusing incident that occurred when I was putting together the engine for my ’36 pickup in the early 1970s. I was able to find everything NOS for a complete head and valve train except the exhaust valves. Being out of options I decided to inquire at the Chevy dealer.
So I went to the dealer parts department and asked the counter man about the availability of 1935-40 Chevy exhaust valves. Typical of the know-it-alls of this world he let out a big guffaw at me even asking about such an obsolete (in his vast knowledge) part. Then he rounded up some of the other parts guys so they could share in his glee. When they were all done enjoying my foolish inquiry I said “Now that you’ve had your fun would you please look up my part?”
It suddenly got real quiet as Mr. Know It All found the part I was looking for, PN 838717, in his then-current parts book. Apparently GM discovered that there was sufficient demand to put those valves back into production. I placed the order and a few days later the valves showed up in a freshly minted GM box. Another example of the value of ignoring the "experts" and doing a little independent inquiry.
Because all these parts were NOS when I started there was no problem with feeler gauges being marred at the valve stem-rocker arm interface.
My '36 engine idles down to such a low RPM that it's super easy to feel the gap with a feeler gauge and get it just right.
Last edited by yar; 10/27/2017 4:31 PM.
