Ok man this is how I adjusted my rockers after a COMP rocker stud change, (cheap china made stud broke after I got the car...) So, I would bump over the motor and find which rocker was loose and I would tighten until the slack (from side to side) was gone. (It takes a little while, yes, but my car is running fine, and have no lifter noise still for 2 months now LOL) Also my socket was too thick so when I tried to adjust the rockers with the car running it would kind of bogg down, and it would be hard to get my socket out, so believe it or not, I adjusted mine with the engine not running, so it can be done :D . Point being, none of the rockers are supposed to be loose... So just keep bumping the motor over and adjusting until the slack is all out of them, and run it for a few minutes, the adjust them again. If that doesnt work then sounds like you are off a tooth on your timing gear. :bang:

DOT TO DOT= DOWEL PIN AT 3 O'CLOCK

12 O'CLOCK TO 12 O'CLOCK= DOWEL PIN AT 9 O'CLOCK.

Jake

West Point ROCKS!

Once you set the lifter preload and the engine fires, it'll probably go through "teething pains" and will probably need playing with the throttle to keep it running, especially at low RPMs. This is normal; I just went through it with my son's 96 LT1 cam and head swap.

A PCM tune will cure this, but unless or until you have it done, you'll probably have to manually raise the idle RPMs. How much depends on the cam and other engine mods, but somewhere in the range of 850 RPMs should work to keep the engine running in gear, foot on brake conditions.

In the past I've just folded a piece of a match book cover (paper) or something similar and placed it at the throttle body lever to keep the idle UP as a temporary way to keep the engine running while it warms up.

WATCH YOUR OIL PRESSURE AND COOLANT TEMPERATURE LIKE A HAWK!

Jake

West Point ROCKS!

yeah thats how I did it, 12 & 6 o'clock and lined 'em up perfectly with a straight edge, I wasn't so precise with the 3o'clock dowel position I just eyeballed that, it looked like 3 to me and my mechanic friend when he checked it anyways. if its position was SLIGHTLY off would it make problems like I'm having? I put the opti on perfectly as well, the dowel wouldn't of fit in any of the other holes anyways.

oil pressure was good but the 1st time I had it running while adjusting the valves it got pretty hot, I'm not sure if it was because of the improper lash or if I have/had an air pocket in my cooling system. I haven't had it running long enough since then to see if it will climb like that again. also the was quite a bit of steam coming out the tail pipes which my friend said was just from condensation that formed when having it apart and the new gaskets. I torqued EVERYTHING to spec and I know I RTV'd the intake mani good and it had plenty of cure time.. but if I did mess one of those things up it should still start fine right?

alright I think I'm on to something, I stuck my finger in #1's spark plug hole and rotated the crank until the air wasn't squeezing by my finger and the mark on the hub I was using for TDC was at 9o'clock and not 12. I don't know how its possible but its not where I put it when I put it on w/ it @ 12 w/ #6 TDC. I know you guys told me to confirm that earlier but I just ASSumed it wasn't possible. I'll re-djust the valves to that and check back in.

well it fired right up but was running rough again and started stumbling so I went to give it some gas on the TB and when my hand got close to the rubber intake boot I started getting shocked. is this a ground problem? the only ones I took off were the two on the coil and they both go back onto the right mount bolt for the coil right?

jeez 5 posts in a row now.. anyways
I'm stumped again.. this makes no sense! I had a plug wire that wasn't quite on all the way so I fixed that and now it won't fire up again! it just cranks the then when I stop cranking it it will turn over a few more times.
do I have these grounds right? if its hard to tell I put the double one on first then the single one. I also pulled that pig tail back out because its was suspected to be for the AIR pump but never positively confirmed.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...r/100_0828.jpg

I triple checked the wire connections and order. ...don't know what else to do:confused:

alright i may have an idea what you did. when you went to adjust rockers the first time you were looking at rocker position to determin TDC blah blah blah.... all fine, you marked the hub when the the intake valve came all the way up. It does take another 1/4 turn of the crank after the intake rocker comes up to be in the correct position for adjusting

BECAUSE when the intake rocker closes the piston is still at the bottom of the stroke. obviously you dont want the piston to push the air/gas out of the engine. So when you tried the other method of putting your finger in the hole you actually found TDC at the right time which would put your mark at 9 when it shouldve been at 12.


make sense??

yeah I get that whole part and already re-did the lash w/ #1 & #6 at (the correct)TDC. but why it fired up with a slightly loose plug wire and had electricity running rampant across the engine bay and now won't fire up that the wire is correctly on does not make ANY sense to me, other than maybe I installed ^^^those two grounds wrong but why then did it fire w/ a loose boot and not now? :confused::bang:

ok so I've been going over everything..again, and noticed another questionable thing on top of those^^ grounds. I noticed a pic of the EVAP system on shbox's site doesn't match mine>
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...r/100_0829.jpg
he has the same type of tube coming out the bottom nipple as he does the top one while I have a rubber hose going into it from the EVAP solenoid, which I had asked about earlier on and got this answer>
I just assumed SSR was mistaken saying that the rubber hose does not plug into anything, does it or don't it plug into the intake mani? cause here>
http://shbox.com/1/evap_sol.jpg
it says the bottom nipple plugs into the plastic line bundled w/ the fuel lines..but that goes to the evap solenoid.. I wouldn't suspect this is actually the root of my problems, but I'm running out of ideas.

well I got it running again but it doesn't want to rev over 1k if that gives anyone some ideas..? hoping I don't have to tear back into the internals just to check my work which I don't think is wrong..

the one line goes to the evap canister. (the plastic thing that goes under the throttle body to the bundle of fuel lines). the other line on that solenoid goes to the middle port on the throttle body. then on the bottom of that solenoid is a very small rubber hose. thats is a vent and doesnt plug into anything

my solenoid didn't have a vent on it unless it is that rubber hose that I plugged into the bottom nipple on the intake mani? and thanks badazz, I think everyone else gave up like I'm about to:bang:

the vent line is literally a 1in piece of hose w/ a 90* bend. it doesnt connect to anyhting. It really isnt anything to worry about. What do you mean the bottom port on the intake? do you mean on the throttle body? if thats the case you have it on the wrong one. the bottom port is for the coolant that flows through the throttle. i believe you did the bypass so that will just remain un-pluggled.

you need the evap hose connected to the middle port. the top one is for that tube that connects to the top of the valve cover

woops I meant the bottom connection on the EVAP purge solenoid and thats^^ the way I have the lines run.

heres I vid I just took, hopefully it helps!
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...h_100_0831.jpg
I had to keep tapping the gas to keep it running and its also running pig rich!

I have to admit that I gave up on you once I saw that you are still checking for TDC, where the hub is pointing, etc. when trying to set the lifter preload.

As I wrote before, using the method that most, if not all, of the cam companies, Tech writers, PROs, etc., use on Chevy engines does NOT involve anything dealing with TDC.

Also, it doesn't involve setting the preload on one lifter on the driver's side then going over to the other side of the engine to set one over there.

Haven't you ever watched the guys with REALLY fast cars go through their valves between rounds at the track? Yes, they're setting LASH not preload, but the the procedure is the same. Watch the intake to set the exhaust, then watch the exhaust to set the intake. The IC/EO method.

I've tried to help, but it seems you've chosen your own, different method. Sorry, I've done the best I can do, so I'll just leave it for you and the other members to work out.

"Lead a horse to water but can't make it drink" comes to mind.

Good Luck to you.

Jake

West Point ROCKS!

I understand that but I'm working by myself and since the whole front of the engine is assembled I can't turn the engine over and watch the valve events at the same time. I understand the method you described is the most accurate but the way I did it, especially last time should still get it close enough to run long enough for me to fine tune it with the car running. do you really think this is all from improper valve lash? if so I'll see if I can get someone to help me turn the crank while I watch the valves, I sort of think theres something else going on tho jimho, course I'm no expert..

edit:some one else asked me to make another vid while tryin to rev it up, I was hitting the gas the entire video and it still stalled on me, also it only revved to 1k for a few seconds on the 2nd start up while having my foot to the floor.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...oo100_0832.jpg

you sure you got the opti on right?