pachanga

Also when you 1st start the motor go around and snug em up so none of them are ticking. Then adjust each one.

I would wait for other opinions. Not sure if this is an accepted practice, especially for someone who has never done it. You will probably have a tendancy to run them down a little tight.

alamo28

I just dont think I can install my exhaust and still put the valve cover on. I would have to remove the exhaust again. P.I.T.A.
pain in the ass!

pachanga

Yeap...my boat is the same....have to pull the exhaust to pull the valve cover. And ya definately couldn't hear a valve ticking without the exhaust on! Anywho it does leave a mess....gonna sling some oil doing it the old fashioned way!

You need to familiarize yourself with how the valves open and close. You want the valve you adjust to be fully closed....on the opposite side of the cam from the lobe. I don't know where to find it...but their are publications for each engine that will tell you which valves you can adjust at the same time(engine rotation position).

alamo28

I followed the directions on the Crane Cam site and it said to rotate the engine until the exhaust valve starts going down, when it is going down then set the rocker arm on the intake valve since it will be at the bottom of the lobe. Do the same for the exhaust valve. I did all of that but felt I had to much slop in a few of the valves. I could not get the nut to go down far enough but after reading the Griff's reply I was hitting the allen lock. After I loosened the allen lock I was able to get the thing to tighten down. I just need to set the thing to zero lash. Once I get the thing set to zero lash I guess I will be all set. After I set everything this morning I cranked over the engine completely by hand and then cranked it over with the starter and it seemed like everything was close except for the few that had to much slop. I guess I am going to try it again in the morning and then put it all together and see what I get. I am hoping that everything works out good like the other engine did. Man it would be great to do a nice New Years Eve blast down the I.C.W.

pachanga

Alamo....Why not spend a hundred bucks give or take and let someone that knows what they are doin adjust your valves? If you set them a tad loose the motor will run fine for a little while until you wear out your cam! If they are too tight you will probably realize because of a lack of power...if not you could fry a few valves. Whats the money...an hour or so cruising time in gas? This is a bit more risky than putting in a distributor and getting the rascal fired up IMO!

alamo28

Actually, I just figured out what I was doing wrong and corrected my mistake. All are set to perfectly now tomorrow I will set the timing and fire her up. I can taste the salt spray now!

Westcoast

They sell a aftermarket valve cover that you can take on and off with the exhaust on. It is the only way to go....taking the fueking exhaust off sucks. I like to adjust my valves with the engine running. It seems like the best way to dial them in.

Griff

alamo, how did it go??? Did you get the second engine done and fired up???

BTW, adjusting the rockers using the old school method with a running engine is a pain in the a$$ with polylock nuts. It will make a mess and will be hard to do with side by side engines and no room to get them from the sides. I would pull the intake before I went that route.

Payton

I believe you had a Gil type exhaust. I found on my Gills I was able to remove the valvo cover usine a 1/4" drive socket with a swivel built into the socket. It was tricky to get started,but didn't work tp bad and I didn't have to remove the exhaust manifold.

Griff

I could do the same thing on engines with Imco's and Gil's. They both had stock merc valve covers.