<VV> valve adjustments

[Bill Hubbell]

Well, I have been daily driving the Glenn car for two years and it has never
needed a valve adjustment, and it is not a "new" engine by any means.  In
fact, none of my previous daily driven Corvairs have ever need a valve
adjustment after I set them cold - new engine or not.

I thought we retired that old saw about Corvairs needing periodic valve
adjustments years ago.  If your engines need a "valve lash touch-up every
year or so" I would suspect something is either wrong with your engines or
wrong with the mechanic adjusting the valves.

Like I said before, do the cold adjustment correctly the first time and
never worry about the valves again.

Comments in text:



> At 10:34 AM 04/20/2004, tonyu@roava.net wrote:
> >Crank needs to be turned only once to adjust the valves cold.
>
> Humm...  if you're lucky.

Luck has nothing to do with it - it is a matter of fact and doing it
correctly.


> >Once adjusted cold, they never need to be adjusted again.
>
> Oh?

Yes.

> Again, this might work out OK for a fresh engine just assembled, but an
older
> engine with some miles on it or a running engine that just got tube seals
> would
> maybe find itself needing a valve adjustment.  Again.

Of course you would adjust the valves after installing tube seals - you
would have to, since you have to remove the rockers  and studs to install
the seals.  I would usually drain the oil at the same time, and clean
everything up down there.  I ususally pull the lifters at the same time to
inspect them and the cam lobes.  If lifters or cam are badly wron, no sense
putting it back together that way.


> ...like tube seals etc?   Or compensate for wear and tear??   Maybe need
to
> tighten up or replace a rocker nut that's not quite as tight on the stud
as it
> needs to be...?

You keep talking about wear and tear.  What kind of wear are you getting
that requires a valve adjustment?  Are you changing your oil properly?
Rocker nuts do not spontaneously loosen up, and if properly set the first
time do not need to be retightened.

> This more likely applies to a daily driver Vair than a trailer queen.
And,
> there are still daily driver Vairs, got a couple.   And, on occasion
> (especially if they have some miles on them) they  will maybe need a valve
> lash
> touch-up, especially if it's been years and who knows how many miles since
a
> valve cover has been off the engine

Maybe your engines, but not mine.

> A while back, a Vair engine was acquired
> with rattling valves (engine had been replaced, PO thought it was shot),
came
> to find two rockers off the studs lying in the valve cover.   PO must have
> wondered why it had such a ferocious miss...   adjusted the errant valve
> rockers to "three stud threads", engine is currently in storage in the
> basement.

Well sure, but I never trust a PO's work anyway.  I always set my own
valves -COLD.  Once they are set, they are set "for life", meaning unless I
have to get back into the head for some catastrophic reason (such as a
dropped valve seat?......)


> I suppose this sort of thing happens to older engines with some wear...
no
> trailer queen, this one.

Age of engine shouldn't matter.  If engine is worn out, a valve job is not
going to fix it.


> See previous paragraph above.   Wear and tear will mandate periodic
> adjustments
> if you put miles on the car.

No, it won't!  Repeat after me: "Corvair engines DO NOT need periodic vavle
adjustments."

> So...  what do you do with an older recently acquired Vair with valves
> clicking
> because the lifters are gummy?   Tube seals maybe?.   Rocker hardware
maybe a
> bit worn, intermittent?   Lots of reasons to adjust the valves hot when
maybe
> you don't wanna wait around for things to cool off so as to adjust cold...
> only
> to find out afterwards that worn engine components have wider tolerances
and
> after adjusting cold you end up pulling the valve covers and doing it all
> again, HOT, to keep the valves quiet.  BTDT too many times and don't
anybody
> start in on "well then, the engine probably needs rebuilding".

But you see, that is the whole point of hydraulic lifters!!!!  If they
cannot be properly adjusted cold, then they cannot be properly adjusted at
all!  You can certainly quiet down a bad lifter by overadjusting it, but you
are not really fixing anything - just covering it up.