Thread: 327 for 88 firebird

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Tech, I notice your valve adjustment proceedure differs greatly from what I'm familiar with from my Chilton's. Yours has more crank turns; any other differences between the two?

Originally Posted by firebird77clone

Tech, I notice your valve adjustment proceedure differs greatly from what I'm familiar with from my Chilton's. Yours has more crank turns; any other differences between the two?

Actually, there are only two complete turns of the crank to adjust all 16 valves (720 degrees of the crank). I've adjusted them different ways also, but this to me is the simplest and the most unlikely to screw up for a new guy doing the work. I guess the other difference is "jiggling" the pushrod up and down instead of "spinning" it. I got the valves too tight for years, due to being unable to feel the difference between when I began compressing the spring inside the lifter body. Maybe you can tell when you engage the spring if you build motors for a living day in and day out, but for a newbie, he will always end up with the valves too tight. I learned the "jiggle" method from Denny, a fellow who used to be on this forum. It works every time, no matter who does it.
Some of you old timers on here probably remember Denny. I believe he had a 410 FE Ford motor in a Chevy truck and was from Illinois. Denny and I butted heads a few times, but he was a pretty savvy fellow in many ways. Speaking of long-lost members, I read somewhere that Tango died.