Adjusting valves on a 289 - 259 - 232 Just use the finger over the hole to determine when the piston is coming up on the compression stroke. It should only be necessary to do this for #1 and #6. Since the firing order is the same as for a Chevy, this trick should work on a Stude. When the pointer is at zero and #1 is on the compression stroke, adjust the following valves Exhaust 1-3-4-8 Intake 1-2-5-7 With the pointer at zero and #6 on compression adjust Exhaust 2-5-6-7 Intake 3-4-6-8 "Alex Magdaleno" OCt 2001 The way I have set valves for 35 years since I first learned the four-stroke-cycle while building my first minibike is the easy way based on the fact that the valve overlap, where the intake starts to open as the exhaust is closing, only happens once every TWO turns. I just clip a pushbutton on to the starter solenoid and tap the starter until I see the exhaust rocker close and the intake open. I keep tapping the starter until the intake rocker just closes. You have lots of time there. The intake can still be open slghtly or the intake can be closed for a whole turn and still you can set the exhaust. That is the best time to set the exhaust clearance because it's off the ramp and a looong way before it opens again. After setting the exh, tap a good bit more to make sure the intake is well off the cam ramp. That is a good time to set the intke. If you go farther than needed and get the exhaust just starting to open, it is STILL a good time to set the intake. If you get past the fully-open position (exhaust) then do NOT set the intake- you went too far and the intake ramp is coming up very soon. ANY time before the exhaust opens, or opens very far, is a good time to set the intake. Just remember "exhaust-intake"...... exhaust-intake...... before-exhaust-after-intake Any time just BEFORE the exhaust opens (or at the beginning of the exh opening) is the best time to set the INTAKE. Any time AFTER the intake is fully open, (or during, or after closing) is the best time to set the EXHAUST... All you are doing is simply making sure the lifter is on the base circle of the cam, and not on the opening or closing ramp. No need to remember what pattern (i-e-i-e-e-i) to use at TDC and which pattern to use at a different crank position. Forget that. I hope I didn't make it sound complicated too. Just make sure the valve is not even close to opening time, and you can set it. No checkers No testers No patterns to remember No big deal. D L DJLevesque@webtv.net (David Levesque) oct 2001 That's the way I do it. Start the exaust pushrod up and adjust the intake rocker. Start the intake pushrod down and adjust the exaust rocker. Do this for every cyl. Order doesn't matter. Easy. Not messy. jerrystudebaker@aol.com (Jerrystudebaker) Oct 2001 This is how I adjust mine to avoid a big oil mess: I run the car until completely up to temperature, remove and ground the coil wire, and hook-up a remote starter switch the the starter solenoid. After removing the valve cover I go front to back, jogging the starter as I go, making sure the valve I am adjusting is on the 'base circle'. After doing one bank, I assemble everything and warm it up again. Then I do the other bank the same way. I do something a little different than a lot of people, in that I set mine to 0.020" hot. After using this method for 30 years, I have never burned valves or cracked any heads. I feel I have a quieter more efficient engine as a result. I typically check it at 10,000 mile intervals, but seldom have to re-adjust very many. KK keith_kichefski@wed.dresser.com Oct 2001 ___________ Does anyone know just how much oil is going to go all over the place when I adjust the valves with the car running? Also, has anyone adjusted them cold with much success (motor off)? Just how do the rubber grommets go in the valve covers? Mine disintegrated when the covers were removed and appear to have been put in backwards by someone else anyway. Ken #1065 ----------------------------------------- Ken: Both myself and several friends here have adjusted Stude V8 valves hot with the engine off, and we have gotten them adjusted correctly and running fairly quite. Just fully warm up the engine to standard operating temperature, both hot oil and coolent; then shut off the engine, remove the valve covers and adjust the valves to the hot settings. (I normally use .025 for both) You don't get a mess with oil running down the engine block by doing it this way or ruining feeler guages too. Since the engine is fully hot, and everything stays this hot while you adjust the valves, you;ll get fairly accurate readings. The valvetrain will start cooling down as you do the job, but not enough to really change the settings by much, if any. And from cold engine to hot engine, the amount of clearance is such a small amount of change that you'll hear or get much difference. This procedure must work well, as my engines run quite, have not burnt valves or clatter, and my Lark's 259 with nearly 180,000 miles is still running strong. (It's engine has never been apart). The Avanti, with nearly 5,000 miles since rebuild, also has quite valvetrain and is doing fine. Lew --------------------------------------- Ken Craven wrote: > Does anyone know just how much oil is going to go all over the place when I > adjust the valves with the car running? Quite a bit, it squirts all over the place. > Also, has anyone adjusted them cold > with much success (motor off)? I've done it many times, but be very careful that your at TDC. I really recommend doing them hot. > Just how do the rubber grommets go in the > valve covers? Mine disintegrated when the covers were removed and appear to > have been put in backwards by someone else anyway. The bigger flat donut goes on the outside, the small one plugs into the hole. > Ken #1065 > -- John Poulos ----------------------------------------- Ken, The cleanest way to adjust the valves hot is to take a junk valve cover, and cut it in half leangthwise, just above the two bolt holes. With this in place, you will be able to adjust the valves, but the oil won't run all over the exhaust manifolds. The grommets go in from the top. I have found that it's more accurate to adjust the valves after the engine is well warmed up, with the engine off. This way you can rotate the engine by hand, and your feeler gauge doesn't get beat to death. Bob Ziff ----------------------------------------- There'll be a great deal of contention on this issue, I'm sure, but I've always adjusted my valves cold on every engine I've ever owned with solid lifters, or overhead cams. To set a baseline, I adjust them according to the manual, with the engine hot, though not running. I do all cylinders this way and adjust the valve lash precisely. Then, I let the engine cool completely and recheck all valve lash clearances. The measurements I get are then recorded and used for all future checks/adjustments. I've used this method for the several Studebaker engines we've had, as well as more than a few motorcycles, with good success. Never have experienced an improperly worn camshaft, excessive tappet noise, loss of tappet clearance, etc. And, no hot oil and metal to deal with. The valve cover's rubber grommets just pop in with the larger side on top, where the nut and washer go. Thanks, Chris Altenburg ----------------------------------------- Chris, I've been following this thread with interest. Every VW I owned had solid lifters. With an aircooled engine there is a lot more expansion than you have with water cooling and a lot faster valve erosion if they are set tight. They were set stone cold. The only caveat was that TDC had to be set precisely. Once you had the crankshaft pully marked it was a piece of cake. You didn't even have to pull the plugs. You just rotated the engine backwards to avoid the compression stroke. Surely someone has developed a procedure for a Studebaker 289 by now. If not, why doesn't someone who knows how to do it send an article to John Hull? It sounds as if a lot of people could use it. It might save a few irreplaceable engines too. Not to mention hands. You must pick up some interesting scars setting valves on a hot motor. What constituted cold? You waited 24 hours after you last ran the motor. VWs are real picky about valve clearance. PCKing ----------------------------------------- I did print something in the Avanti Magazine about how I do it cold, and I included Dave Thibeault's cold-adjusting method another time. As far as how cold is "cold" goes, I usually did it first thing in the morning, after the engine had been off for at least 8 hours and with the outside temperature between 40 and 90 degrees fahrenheit. Thanks, Chris Altenburg ----------------------------------------- PCKing, As a VW type, do you have a catalog for parts sold by Scat? I bought their cut to fit pushrods years ago for another of my engines and need a couple of sets of them for my present project. If you have a catalog, would you check for the following: Cut-to-fit pushrods 5/16" diameter ball ends on both ends of the pushrods chrome moly steel lengths of up to 10" or more - I think mine will be about 9.55" long. I'd appreciate a price and telephone number for these folks if they are still in business. Thanks, Chris Altenburg ----------------------------------------- AOAI ISSUE 93, PAGE 41 / Valve Adjustment Specs/Procedure 63-64 .........../rfj ---------------------------------------- Peter, I don't remember, though I think it would have been at some point after Summer, 1993, when I first assumed the editor's position. Thanks, Chris Altenburg ----------------------------------------- obert, Thank you. I looked it up. It's a good procedure. Especially the hot and cold settings. The only caveat I would add is that you can use the starter motor to move the engine, but that you are going to have to set each cylinder to TDC by hand. Using a light on the coil circuit is a good idea, but that will go on where the engine is timed, i.e. BTDC. I don't know what the duration of the Studebaker cam is like. I was amazed at how little variation on the TDC would cause the valves to start moving on a VW. I'd want to be sure that it was perfect on a 289. Dave made a comment that made me smile. I remember the light clatter you were looking for when the engine was cold that told you the valves were perfect. You knew a lot about a Beetle motor by how it sounded. Peter ----------------------------------------- I use a degree wheel or timing tape and move the crankshaft 45 degrees for each cylinder in the firing order. Use a socket on the crankshaft pulley if room allows. Go two complete revolutions of crank to check each cylinder at top of compression and exhaust. No one seems to want to say what the cold setting should be. It seems as though .28 is about right??? Ken #1065 ----------------------------------------- << I don't know what the duration of the Studebaker cam is like. I was amazed at how little variation on the TDC would cause the valves to start moving on a VW. I'd want to be sure that it was perfect on a 289. >> Is the cam position that critical when setting the valves on the 289? I was planning to use the starter to get close to TDC. The only other engine I have set valves on was a Datsun 240Z and there a few degrees either side of TDC made no difference as long as you were well away from the lobe of the cam. Scott Isensee ----------------------------------------- Scott, I have not set the valves on a 289. My statements are based on observing the valves on a VW, which is still a solid-lifter multi-cylinder 4-cycle with overhead valves. The starter will make pretty large changes in rotation. If it were my motor I'd make the finishing moves by hand so that each cylinder was as close to TDC as possible. Keep in mind that you have two valves and two cams lobes in different positions. One is going to stay closed for quite a while, but the other is going to open very soon. You can have changes in the valve/rocker gap long before the lobe starts moving the valve. You want to be at TDC. Peter ----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- =============================== Adjust this valve With this valve fully open 1 intake 6 intake 3 exhaust 2 exhaust 8 intake 5 intake 6 exhaust 1 exhaust 4 intake 7 intake 5 exhaust 8 exhaust 3 intake 2 intake 7 exhaust 4 exhaust 6 intake 1 intake 2 exhaust 3 exhaust 5 intake 8 intake 1 exhaust 6 exhaust 7 intake 4 intake 8 exhaust 5 exhaust 2 intake 3 intake 4 exhaust 7 exhaust =============================== I adjust my valves cold. Add .002 inch to the hot specs. I do one cylinder at a time and follow the firing order. Starting with the number one cylinder, start the exaust push rod up and adjust the intake valve. Start the intake push rod down and adjust the exaust valve. Then move to number eight cylinder. Of course, if you want to cut down on the engine turning, you can start the number one exaust push rod up and adjust the number one intake valve and also the number six exaust valve. Then turn the crankshaft 1/4 turn, this starts the number eight exaust push rod up and you can adjust the number eight intake and the number five exaust valves. Turn the crank another 1/4 turn and adjust the number four intake and the number seven exaust. Turn the crank another 1/4 turn and adjust the number three intake and the number two exaust. Do that 4 more times for the last half of the firing order and you're done. ===================================== Since the firing order is the same as for a Chevy, this trick should work on a Stude. When the pointer is at zero and number 1 is on the compression stroke, adjust the following valves Exhaust 1-3-4-8 Intake 1-2-5-7 With the pointer at zero and number 6 on compression adjust Exhaust 2-5-6-7 Intake 3-4-6-8 Seems to work fine. I also do mine cold and add .002 to the desired setting.