odd valve adjusting

[fryedaddy]

i adjust my valves one at a time turning the crank 1/4 turn at a time and watching for opening and closing method. but a few years ago i brought up adjusting the valves on a fe while the engine is running and i pretty much got laughed at by a few members but thats ok. i was watching old nascar footage from the early 60s today and what do i see,a mechanic adjusting the valves on his fe galaxie while it is running.i thought i remembered this method from 50 years ago. but i still would not try it myself.

[GerryP]

I've done it with a hydraulic cam.  I have a valve cover with the top half carved out so that only the pushrod side of the valvetrain shows.  This is so that I don't create an oil flood.  If you have the factory adjuster, it's not very hard as you are dealing only with the adjuster nut.  I have Crane iron rockers where I had to deal with the adjusting screw and the lock nut.  It's very bouncy for sure.  For a solid cam, I'd still want to do it with the engine off.

[frnkeore]

I was a mechanic, between '62 & '70 and it was the most common (at least in my area of SO Cal) to adjust valves. Messy yes and very hard on feeler gauges. I still have my set of feeler gauges that I used for that.

You also used a feeler gauge to find a loose rocker arm or bad lifter on hyd lifters.

[gregaba]

That's the way I was taught to do it in the 60's.
Used that method all though my mechanic career of over 50 year's.
I did like GerryP though and used the cut off valve covers after a couple of time's cleaning oil off of everything.
That ten cent a quart oil got a little expensive after a while.
Greg

[MeanGene]

It works pretty well on trucks, tractors and cars with very mild cams. I learned doing old REOs and International sixes where you could idle them down to around 300 RPM and they wouldn't toss oil around

[fryedaddy]

common on other engines but i wasn't sure about the fe

[hotrodford]

I did it that way on a 406 back in the 60's when I was a teenager!

[shady]

used to do my boss 302 solid cam that way.

[Lowrider]

My old man always adjusted valves while it was running so that's how I did it. This was back in the early 60's so most of them were Yblocks. Sure could get some of those to run pretty sweet.

[MeanGene]

Again, works pretty good with smaller cams. trying to keep a wrench on an adjuster with a high lift cam and higher RPM is a little more difficult

[fryedaddy]

just reminising and remembering from when i was a young man. i like the quarter turn at a time while watching for opening and closing method myself.