There's just to many different specs. 57 235. Adjusting cold. I added .002 to intake spec I found I added .003 to exhaust spec I found So ended up at .010 intake and .023 exhaust Just wanting opinions. They were all tighter than that. This motor came from a running truck. How well it ran I have no idea. If anything it might be a little chatty but like I said I've just clogged my head researching.
Yes I read that also. Does not specify hot or cold adjustment. I'm assuming those are hot. Just wanted opinions and have found many variables on specs.
That tech tip is worse than useless. Far too many mistakes to list. I have wasted a few billion electrons over the past 20-something years, explaining a valve adjustment procedure that works, first time- - - -every time- - - -and virtually nobody uses it. I gave up on that Don Quixote quest long ago. There's probably a reference to "companion cylinder valve adjustment" somewhere in the archives. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
I have sent Peggy a note asking her to add the valve adjustment tech tip to the list of tech tips to be rewritten. I suggested that Jerry write the revision as the original author has passed away.
HERE is Jerry's post on how to do Companion Cylinder Valve Adjustment. Note that it's for Hydraulic lifters, but the same principle works for solids. You just need to use the proper clearance for each rocker.
[on edit] Gord, good idea.
Last edited by klhansen; 04/09/202411:20 PM.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
Jerry, I agree the Tech Tip needs to be updated. I found one of your previous posts showing this technique.
Originally Posted by Hotrod Lincoln
A simpler, and more accurate way is to use the "companion cylinder" adjustment method. When one cylinder is on top dead center of the compression stroke with both valves fully closed, there is another cylinder that's on top of the exhaust stroke with both valves slightly open. The exhaust will be closing, and the intake is opening. That's called "rocking". The companion cylinders are:
1&6 2&5 3&4
Take the firing order, 1-5-3-6-2-4 and cut it in half: 1 5 3 6 2 4
The companion cylinders line up above each other. Roll the engine over until the #6 cylinders are rocking, and adjust #1. Rock #2, adjust #5. Rock #4, adjust #3- - - - -etc. All six cylinders can be adjusted in two turns of the engine. The easy way to do this is to put the transmission in high gear and gently roll the truck forward to line up the next cylinder's valves. Jerry
Phil Moderator, The Engine Shop, Interiors and Project Journals
1952 Chevrolet 3100, Three on the Tree, 4:11 torque tube Updated to: ‘59 235 w/hydraulic lifters, 12v w/alternator, HEI, PCV and Power front Disc Brakes Project Journals Stovebolt Gallery Forum
I found one of your previous posts showing this technique.
LOL! It looks like nearly everybody is on this. I sent Peggy a link to the thread we both found.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
Since there are at least three different adjustment specifications for stovebolt solid lifter cams, use a dial indicator and a degree wheel and measure the clearance ramp height on the specific cam you're working with. Every camshaft grinder's instruction manual will have a chapter on degreeing a cam, including plotting the lift curve. It''s "High performance 101" in the racing world. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Yes, I got three PMs right off the bat. All good tho. Good way to do this...
~ Peggy M 1949 Chevrolet 3804 "Charlie" - The Stovebolt Flagship In the Gallery "We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give." -- Winston Churchill
That link from the website you referenced contains lots of information gleaned from various sources (including me), without any attribution, presented as the author's own information. Use it cautiously. There's a not too complimentary term for that in the literary world. The most common specification you'll find for stovebolt solid lifter adjusrment is a "hot" setting of .006" for intake valves, and .016" for exhausts. There are other specs, depending on which service manual you choose to consult. "Heavy duty" engines such as dump trucks, etc. are often specified at a couple of thousandths wider clearance, since those engines spent most of their time working hard at high RPM, pulling heavy loads. Non-stock cams such as Melling, Elgin, Howard's, "Bulldog", etc. have whatever clearance the cam manufacturer chose to build into his design. The only "foolproof" way to determiine adjustment is to use the manufacturer's "cam card" or measure the lobe profile yourself.
I like to add .002" to the spec clearance when doing a "cold" adjustment, and recheck and tweak the results once the engine is fully warmed up. That has worked well for me for the past 65+ years and literallty hundreds of valve adjustments. That allows for pushrod and valve stem expansion due to heat as the engine reaches full operating temperature. Have fun! Jerry
Last edited by Phak1; 04/12/20247:57 PM. Reason: Edited to replace copy/paste with link
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
I didn't figure it would be perfect right from the get go but was just wanting opinions. Satisfied I'm pretty safe with my initial adjustment. I can always adjust after the install and see how it runs and sounds. Thanks to everyone who had input.
Seems to be a good topic for discussion but no one has posted any specs on a cold solid lift cam for a 1957 235.
The 55.2 Service manual doesn't have a spec for cold adjustment and is pretty adamant that adjustment be done hot and goes as far as using a thermometer to measure oil temperature coming out of the rocker assembly. Here's the procedure from that manual.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
Like all the other hot potatoes around here, this one has now joined the collection on my desk.
Sigh.
Ok, existing TT sux. Got it. I'll nuke it forthwith. Funny thing is, though, for being such a crappy TT, There's a bunch of trucks with valves adjusted via that method that keep showing up at Winchester year after year without blowing up so it can't be too terribly wrong....
Jerry -- I'll make you a deal -- Come to Wrench Fest and besides picking up a couple of engines for your collection, we (um, *you*) can go through this procedure from scratch for a whole new *Professionally* written (um, that would be where I come in ) Tech Tip that doesn't stink and isn't plagiarized (the term you were looking for above ).
I've also been kicking around the idea of trying a video TT... this could be the one to start with.
~ John
A kid raised on Hotwheels, Matchbox and Tonka cannot be reasonably expected to own only one vehicle as an adult.
1949 Chevrolet 3804 In the Legacy Gallery | In the Gallery Forum 1973 IH 1310 Dump 1963 Kaiser M38A1 2001 International/AmTran RE3000 "Skoolie" 2014 Ford E-350 4x4 (Quigley)
My 57 235 solid lifters was adjusted cold with a rebuilt set of rockers. I adjusted the intakes to 0.010 and the exhausts to 0.020 and have run it 3,000 miles. Runs good. I meant to readjust hot to 0.006 and 0.018 but it sounds so good I haven't done anything else to it.
Last edited by Jethro in Va; 04/11/20245:23 PM. Reason: Oops!
~~ Jethro 1954 3100 Back to Life In the Dity Gallery 1951 3100 (gone) / 1956 4400 (still in the neighborhood) / 1957 6400 with dump body (retired) / 1959 3100 panel (in the woods junked) / 1978 Custom Deluxe K10 / 1993 S-10 4.3 / 2004 Chevy Crew Cab / 1945 John Deere H / 1952 John Deere B / 1966 John Deere 2510 / 1967 John Deere 1020
Sounds like a plan, John- - - - -assuming the family medical situation remains stable. I'll also have my boring bar and accessories on hand if you want to document the one piece rear oil seal machining procedure. I don't think anybody actually took notes or many photos when I did that to two engines at Grigg's place.
I'm very much aware of the proper term- - - -just trying to be a "kinder, gentler" version of my allegedly abrasive self these days! Sometimes it works!
Jethro, that's the procedure I use, only I've been adjusting cold to .008" and .018" for about 40 years or more. Little if any "hot" readjustment is needed, most of the time. "Feel" is a pretty subjective process, so judging the drag on a feeler gauge will vary somewhat from one wrench jockey to the next. I believe it's more accurate to make the adjustments on a cold, stopped engine and do a quick recheck once it's warmed up. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
A 70 yr old Chevy mechanic gave this "recipe" for adjusting valves some 50 yrs ago. Get #1 on compression (so #6 rocks) and set the left column, then turn the engine 1 turn to #6 on compression (so #1rocks) and set the right column. Done. Has worked for me all these years.
~~ Jethro 1954 3100 Back to Life In the Dity Gallery 1951 3100 (gone) / 1956 4400 (still in the neighborhood) / 1957 6400 with dump body (retired) / 1959 3100 panel (in the woods junked) / 1978 Custom Deluxe K10 / 1993 S-10 4.3 / 2004 Chevy Crew Cab / 1945 John Deere H / 1952 John Deere B / 1966 John Deere 2510 / 1967 John Deere 1020
That's the "flat rate mechanic " method- - - -quick and accurate, and most of Dad's mechanics did it that way back in the 1950s. Unless a radical racing cam with lots of overlap is involved, it works great. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
I was scared to go any tighter... last thing I wanted was to bend a pushrod when the engine got hot! My thoughts were I could stand a little clatter better than ruined pushrods.
Last edited by Jethro in Va; 04/11/20245:57 PM.
~~ Jethro 1954 3100 Back to Life In the Dity Gallery 1951 3100 (gone) / 1956 4400 (still in the neighborhood) / 1957 6400 with dump body (retired) / 1959 3100 panel (in the woods junked) / 1978 Custom Deluxe K10 / 1993 S-10 4.3 / 2004 Chevy Crew Cab / 1945 John Deere H / 1952 John Deere B / 1966 John Deere 2510 / 1967 John Deere 1020
I was scared to go any tighter... last thing I wanted was to bend a pushrod when the engine got hot!
Just for grins, try this- - - -with the piston at top dead center on the "overlap" stroke (exhaust closing and intake opening) use a lever bar or a big screwdriver to push the intake valve down until it touches the top of the piston. I think you'll be surprised at how much safety margin is built into the design. It's virtually impossible for an exhaust valve to touch a piston, unless a valve spring disentigrares or the split keepers come off and let the valve fall into the cylinder. If a timing gear strips a few teeth, it might be possible for an intake valve and a piston to get together. I don't think adjusting a valve clearance too tight could do any damage without creating a dead miss of the cylinder by holding a valve slightly open all the time. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Probably the biggest issue with too tight valve clearance settings is burning the valves (especially exhaust) if they're held slightly open. Might take a while, though. And that particular cylinder would exhibit low compression, but likely wouldn't be dead, as the fuel mixture would still ignite.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
) Tech Tip that doesn't stink and isn't plagiarized (the term you were looking for above