OK - As suggested, I made an attempt at measuring valve to piston clearance. The engine is on a stand without flywheel and the timing cover is still on but I brought cylinder #1 as close to TDC as I could. I measured the movement of the #1 exhaust valve from closed to where it wouldn't move any further which I'm assuming is touching the top of the piston. The travel is almost exactly .10". According to a previous post, the travel should be between .030" and .060" more than the "Maximum Valve Lift". The Cam Card photo is below. Is the Maximum Valve Lift the same as the "Tappet Lift" of .050" shown on the card, or should I be using "Lift at Valve" of .417"?
If it is Tappet Lift, it looks like adding the range of .030 to .060 to the .50" would give me .080" to .110" and my .100" would be within the range. I hope this is good news and might show that the head wasn't over surfaced.
