Hello everyone, I'm looking for a step by step guide on adjusting the lifters in my 8BA Flathead V8 but I'm having trouble finding one. My car has the adjustable lifters and I have the special tool to adjust them with, but I'm not 100% sure how to go about it. A lot of the videos that come up have the engine torn down and out of the car lol! Kind of frightening but I dont think it needs an engine pull to be adjusted, correct me if I'm wrong. If any of you have a good video to recommend or a detailed step by step guide, I'd really appreciate it! Thank you!
It's way easier to do with the engine out since the lifter valley is very tight and you need to spin the engine over by hand as you go along, but can be done in the car if needed (I personally would yank the engine, would give me a chance to clean up around inside the compartment). If you have a bigger cam in it then the holding tool will not work since the lifters will be sitting down farther in the bores due to the smaller base circle on the high lift lobes. With any luck the lifter bores were drilled in the past so you can stick a drift punch in the lifter bodies and then it is just a matter of turning the adjuster until your clearances are in spec. When adjusting each cylinder ensure that the piston is on the compression stroke so you know that the lifter is fully down.
Well it's running a stock cam thankfully, and the engine bay is remarkably clean as it is lol. Essentially the car was restored a number of years ago and then sat without use, so this is it's first valve adjustment since the rebuild.
What makes you think they need to be adjusted? I set mine in 2007 and haven't touched them since. The Johnson lifters have a unique thread design that makes the adjusting screw hard to turn so they stay set. I actually broke the holding tool due to the tight adjusters, it is not very well designed to start with and just made of stamped steel.
It's got a pretty nasty tick when cold and like I said this would be it's first adjustment after the break-in period. I'm planning on taking it on vacation in a couple weeks so I want to make sure that wont strand me lol. I'll link some videos of it running for context as to what it sounds like.
https://youtube.com/shorts/CGOLaDrhnaY?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/MQPOiPueSyA?feature=share Here's the videos Nick! After driving it for a while the tick gets quieter, but it never goes away completely. To be fair, I'm not that acquainted with these engines so this may be fine.
If you don't have one, do yourself a favor and go to the auto parts or Harbor freight or spend the big bux on the tool truck and get a mechanics stethoscope. Then by probing around on the engine and engine attachments and isolate the noise down to as close as you can figure out where it is. One thing about it Pocket Nick and a lot of these other guys would have never made it as a mechanic in the 40's 50's or early 60's when it was all too common to drive a flathead Ford into your stall in the shop at 8 am, drain the coolant, pull the heads and intake, pull the valves and grind the valves and seats and adjust the valves by grinding the tips of the stems one at a time and have it back together ready to deliver by 12:00 noon. Well two strike outs on how to have the cam at positions to be able to set the valves simply. The Tex Smith book and the pretty well worthless picture book How to build a flathead V8 by McNicholl have nothing. I'm thinking that you will need either a factory service manual for a 51 or a Motor Manual that covers 51.
If the lifter bores don't have the previously mentioned adjustment holes things will be a little tougher. Those specialized "widgets" that come with the cam and are kinda hard to use (thus the "adjustment hole" concept) and prone to slip. Over the years, I have seen a few clever ways guys have used to make the job a little easier. I would do a search of "The Ford Barn" and maybe even this forum to see what's out there. One thing that's for sure; you need something extra to do a valve adjustment on a flathead (either the holes and a punch or a specialized tool). With no disrespect for another poster on the thread, most lifters currently available are not as good as the old Johnson adjustables we know and love. Some have a tendency to wear quickly and others just to go out of adjustment. If they are out of adjustment, there is usually a reason that should be addressed. As posted above, the threads on the body and bolt should have an interference fit. This can usually be restored by squeezing the bolt in a vise or press to restore it. Loctite has a product (Green) that is made specifically for previously done assemblies that can also be used. This is just hearsay, as I have never used it, but given Loctite's reputation, I'd bet it works..
That all sounds a bit above my paygrade to be honest. Do you think I'm safe to put this off for a while drive the car as is for now? I'm planning to drive it on a road trip the second week of next month (400 miles one way) and I want to be sure this wouldn't strand me lol
Since you have it apart, do you think you could just check the adjustment? If you're only a little bit out (.005-.006") you can probably chance it. Keep your ears open though. The irritation of having to deal with something like this far outweighs the expense (for me at least). If it's greater than .010" out of adjustment, I would spend the trip enjoying things like ;power steering and air conditioning. As someone who had had the occasion to make a 6 day "business" trip from the Twin Cities, to Chicago, to Omaha, and home again in my '51 coupe, it's great experience. I will have to say that the weather and state highways here in the Midwest were cooperative. Stay off the interstates if possible; my car is up to it, but the other drivers, not so much. EDIT : I thought I'd add a little more information and a story. If it were mine, I'd run a quick "go-nogo" check on all of the valves using a .025" feeler gauge. Any failures and I'd sit it out. We're all just "keyboard warriors" at this point, making educated guesses, so it may be something else completely. About 7 years ago, the original engine in my '51 started making a "funny noise". Everything else was fine, but it got on my nerves, so I finally pulled the engine. A close inspection yielded a 3/4" chunk of the thrust surface of the rear main lying on the bottom of the pan. I asked my engine builder about it and he said it was probably an assembly error or a defective bearing. He also said that since it took me 6 months to decide to do something and had no problems in the interim, it would most likely have no effect in the future. Since I had a hopped-up Merc ready to go in, I just changed engines anyway. As Clint Eastwood once said : "Are ya' felling lucky?".
Here is how I do it - easy job. First you make a cardboard or plastic ring that slips on the distributor body. Mark it in 8 equal spots and number them to the wiring of the dizzy cap, make sure your marks correspond where the dizzy wires sit, so your mark #1 sits exactly where the #1 wire exits the cap. Remove the dizzy cap and sparkplugs. To turn the engine, put current through the starter by bridging the solenoid or lift rear wheel and put it in high gear - then you can turn the engine by hand via the rear wheel. You will now see where the dizzy finger points to a mark on your ring. If it points to cylinder #3, this is the cylinder that you have to adjust now. Both valves are closed and should have clearance to the lifters.This is the point where it has compression and would fire, that is near the top dead center. Measure what you find and adjust accordingly. If you cannot hold the lifter just turn the engine further until it lifts the valve and adjust then. Turn engine over to return to the firing point on the same pot and check your clearance again. This might only be neccessary on radical reground cams. A std cam will allow you to hold the lifter and adjust the screw. Write down which cylinders you have already adjusted/checked so that in the end you did them all according to the firing order.
The Jalopy Journal
