TDC valve adjust question

Think I'll stick with 3/8 turn and tighted the nut and lock together and no thread locker   .

The adjusting nut threads are a bit 'buggered up" on the end that goes on the stud. I think I can run a tap through it, 7/16 NF 20 according to my 'calculations'   . BUT...I think I found the problem   . The Poly Lock is a thread or so shorter, and where a good Poly Lock is concave where it goes to the stud this one is a bit convex   .
Anyone have an extra Harland Sharp poly lock and/or an extra adjusting nut/poly lock laying around that they want to get rid of  

You don't need a Harland Sharpe poly lock , just a poly lock... I am probably about as far from you as anyone on this forum but if you pm me your mailing address I will send you a poly lock for a 7/16" stud, if the size is different let me know.

Oh ...By the way the locks I will send you will be new but they will likely be longer as they are meant for clearancing a stud girdle they work the same just a taller housing.

pm sent, THANKS again   .
Oh, by the way WELCOME to the Forum and the Ford Brotherhood   

GT300TD wrote:pm sent, THANKS again   .
Oh, by the way WELCOME to the Forum and the Ford Brotherhood   

No Problem, I am a long term member of the Ford Brotherhood but new to the forum...heres to many a win light, and the famous turn at the next street after you got wasted by a Ford on the last one!

Got the pkg. yesterday afternoon, thanks again FalconEh. Just got the valves adjusted. Tightened the poly locks and nuts together. I can see where that would better secure them . Will probably hot lap them this afternoon.

Great ! Let us know how it goes

Bump, Did you hot lap it yet?

Last week I adjusted them cold, made sure push rods had no gap between rocker arm and lifter, tightened adj nut 1/4 turn then tightened adj nut and poly lock together (they finished between 3/8 to 7/16 turn total). Got it to temp and they sounded like solid lifters . Called to a late dinner and had to stop for the evening. Had to pull off it due to other commitments but will continue today. I plan to tighten them 1/4 turn more to try to stop ticking, then hot lap if they quiet down.
edit- meant hot lash
edit again- I reread post#2 on page 2 and it seems like I did it a bit wrong uh oh wife's calling

GT300TD wrote:Got the pkg. yesterday afternoon, thanks again FalconEh. Just got the valves adjusted. Tightened the poly locks and nuts together. I can see where that would better secure them . Will probably hot lap them this afternoon.

FalconEh wrote:Great ! Let us know how it goes

When you said you were going to hot lap it, I thought you had done the cold/hot lash and were going for a cruiz

Like a first grader that can't get his words right . I re adjusted them and installed my 'newly manufactured' topless valve covers. Have to go to a meeting tonight so have to wait till tomorrow to continue. By 'hot lap' I take it you mean to make a couple of laps around town .

Hot lashed it, the last cold adjustment changed very little if any, and was still ticking so I tightened them to 3/4 turn (total) and it still ticks. It does seem to run pretty decent though but it seems to have smoothed out the lope a bit    . Think I'll just drive it for a while and see what happens .

GT300TD wrote:Hot lashed it, the last cold adjustment changed very little if any, and was still ticking so I tightened them to 3/4 turn (total) and it still ticks. It does seem to run pretty decent though but it seems to have smoothed out the lope a bit    . Think I'll just drive it for a while and see what happens .

There is a big difference between lifter chatter, and lifters ticking. If my memory is serving me, I believe most lifter manufactures do not recommend over 3/4 of a turn of lifter preload usually between 3/8-3/4 of a turn. You are now on the "tight" side of the adjustment, not necessarily a bad thing as taking up the slack or tightening makes more power as it follows the cam profile closer, however if you set it too "tight" you can cause damage especially if you reach a valve float condition (over-reving) you have obviously ran the motor as you have addressed the sound so likely it is not way too tight or you probably would have bent a pushrod or killed a lifter(s). BE CAREFUL not to surpass the redline, you have driven the car before so you can take it out, just short shift it until you are comfortable with how it runs. A couple of checks you can do; take a screwdriver and place it on the valvecover and listen to the ticking to see if it is all(ok) or 1 isolated lifter. Do take the time to tighten the header bolts when you adjust the valves(good habit). If the lifter preload was too loose before now you have tightened it the engine should feel more crisp when you use the pedal (slight rev). If the lope has smoothed out my feeling would be that they were too tight before and reduced the vacuum causing more of a a lopey idle (they should be closer than they were.

Make sense

FalconEh wrote:

GT300TD wrote:Hot lashed it, the last cold adjustment changed very little if any, and was still ticking so I tightened them to 3/4 turn (total) and it still ticks. It does seem to run pretty decent though but it seems to have smoothed out the lope a bit    . Think I'll just drive it for a while and see what happens .

There is a big difference between lifter chatter, and lifters ticking. If my memory is serving me, I believe most lifter manufactures do not recommend over 3/4 of a turn of lifter preload usually between 3/8-3/4 of a turn. You are now on the "tight" side of the adjustment, not necessarily a bad thing as taking up the slack or tightening makes more power as it follows the cam profile closer, however if you set it too "tight" you can cause damage especially if you reach a valve float condition (over-reving) you have obviously ran the motor as you have addressed the sound so likely it is not way too tight or you probably would have bent a pushrod or killed a lifter(s). BE CAREFUL not to surpass the redline, you have driven the car before so you can take it out, just short shift it until you are comfortable with how it runs. A couple of checks  you can do; take a screwdriver and place it on the valvecover and listen to the ticking to see if it is all(ok) or 1 isolated lifter. Do take the time to tighten the header bolts when you adjust the valves(good habit). If the lifter preload was too loose before now you have tightened it the engine should feel more crisp when you use the pedal (slight rev). If the lope has smoothed out my feeling would be that they were too tight before and reduced the vacuum causing more of a a lopey idle (they should be closer than they were.

Make sense

Tightened header bolts. I reved it to 4000rpm (but didn't hold it) after warm up, I shift at 6000rpm max and rarely. Adjustment has always been 1/4 to 3/8 turn . I made sure I didn't go over 3/4.
I listened to each side after warm up and it didn't sound any different, I'll try the screw driver trick. Have 3/8 pushrods, checked them for straightness while they were out (rolled them on flat surface, haha).
Measured how far the poly lock was down in the adj nut, all the same except for the new one .
Turned over engine to pump up lifters before starting. Maybe the difference in the lope was "me" . I use 15w40 RotellaT with zinc additive, just changed before this adj. Think I'll drive it a little while ( if it don't start snowing , like in Canada ) and then back them off a bit. Have plans this weekend with my big Gal .
I mentioned in a pryer post that I cut the top out of an old set of valve covers like a good friend suggested so I could adj them hot .
Oh boy, that didn't last long. oil was shooting to the top of my inner fenders . I sure bet this got a few chuckles from any experienced mechanic who has followed this thread .
Thanks a bunch for all the time you took to explain what I should be doing. I've gotten a lot of help from the great guys on this forum.
Have met a few and was included in the Ford Brotherhood with "open arms".
Thanks again .

Tightened header bolts. I reved it to 4000rpm (but didn't hold it) after warm up, I shift at 6000rpm max and rarely. Adjustment has always been 1/4 to 3/8 turn . I made sure I didn't go over 3/4.
I listened to each side after warm up and it didn't sound any different, I'll try the screw driver trick. Have 3/8 pushrods, checked them for straightness while they were out (rolled them on flat surface, haha).
Measured how far the poly lock was down in the adj nut, all the same except for the new one .
Turned over engine to pump up lifters before starting. Maybe the difference in the lope was "me" . I use 15w40 RotellaT with zinc additive, just changed before this adj. Think I'll drive it a little while ( if it don't start snowing , like in Canada   ) and then back them off a bit. Have plans this weekend with my big Gal   .
I mentioned in a pryer post that I cut the top out of an old set of valve covers like a good friend suggested so I could adj them hot .
Oh boy, that didn't last long. oil was shooting to the top of my inner fenders . I sure bet this got a few chuckles from any experienced mechanic who has followed this thread .
Thanks a bunch for all the time you took to explain what I should be doing. I've gotten a lot of help from the great guys on this forum.
Have met a few and was included in the Ford Brotherhood with "open arms".
Thanks again .[/quote]

No Problem, you are on the right track enjoy, stay away from the Freewheeling the motor (4000 in Neutral) as you could take out the pump in the trans. And yeah I bit my tongue on the valve cover thing that goes back to when you had to adjust the valves while it was running