Well I totalled my truck yesterday so my only other means of transportation is the '62 Galaxie. Does anybody have any instructions on how to adjust the rockers on a 292? (Solid lifters)
Wow man, hope you are OK....your avalanche is a mess. For your 292, you will need to bring each cylinder to top dead center. Watch for the intake valve to close as you are turning the engine. When the intake closes you are apraoching TDC. (to figure out which valve is which the valves line up with the ports on the intake and exhaust side manifolds) turn the engine until both valves are closed for that cylinder then go a SLIGHT turn past where the intake shuts, this will get you close enough to afdjust the valves on that cylinder. Next, loosen the nut on the rocker and slide in the correct feeler guage, Y blocks are solid lifters so there is no "1/2 turn" or anything. I can't remember the exact measurement but I believe its .16 intake and .18 exhaust. Tighten the rockers until you feel a SLIGHT tension on the feeler guage when you slide it.... Thats it, move to the next cylinder. If I remember right though last time I set them I thought they were really loud at factory settings and took all of them down to .14 or something...(damn solid lifters are loud no matter what though Some tapping will be normal with your Y block. Hope that helps... Scot
I really appreciate your help Scot. Looks like I'll be freezing my *** off tonight working on the car. haha
Y blocks are pretty notorious for rocker arms rattling because they aren't getting oil to them. Just something else to look at. Larry T
I was headed to the gas station on a road that isn't heavily driven and hit a huge patch of black ice. I was only going about 20mph but it was down hill and it picked up speed FAST. Slid off of the road and made good friends with the tree and drain pipe in the picture. I only have a few bumps and bruises and luckily there was nobody else involved but DAMN I'm sore today. Larry, when I took off the valve covers the other day I could tell they were getting oil but I don't know if they're getting under oiled. I've heard that about Y blocks before. There was a LOUD ticking that got progressively louder as I pushed the accelerator until I got to about 55-60mph then it smoothed out. The heat riser was stuck closed so I fixed that but it was still ticking like crazy and it was bogging down when I hit the gas. It has a brand new Autolite 2100 that I've attempted to tune so that might have something to do with the hesitation in acceleration.
looks like you missed a spot on the hood !! It's still straight. Glad you are OK. You are in Aberdeen right?
Looking in my manual 292 valves are speced out at .018 hot. So glad that no one got injured in your "incident". It only got into the low 70's here today! jerry
Ya may want to put top oilers on that 292 a well. Glad you are okay! Also, duals and a 4-barrell really wil help the engine run better and get better mileage...if ya keep your foot out of it!
Glad your OK. I did almost the exact same thing with my Silverado which happens to be red also a week before Christmas. Only it was during a snowstorm ,same speed ,downhill on a corner on a road that gets little use. I slid off the road hit a large tree head on bounced back on the road did a 360 & hit another tree the same size dead center again.No seatbelts but the airbags did thier job,I got away w/o scratch.I used the wifes car till I found another Pickup.Had to annie up$ and bought a nice used Ford . Good Luck
I can check the cold measurements for you later or tomorow if its possible. There is a sequence to follow when adjusting the valves of a Y-block, that involves manually cranking the engine over with a breaker bar and 13/16 socket on the harmonic. I forget exactly which valves you adjust(yet again, when I find my manual ill post it). The big question is can you find TDC on your engines harmonic? (It is usually crazy hard to find, mostly caused from rust)
Haha, yeah. I'll be staying off of the undriven roads until they salt them. I figured that a 4x4 could handle an inch of snow, I just didn't account for the 1/2 inch of ice under it. Oh well, live and learn. Thanks for all of the kind words and help. If any of you happen to find the manuals that were mentioned, it would be much appreciated if you could post or email the info. Thanks again.
Another way you can do it is take the valve covers off while its running. Oil doesnt shoot out or anything like a small block chevy does. and you can adjust it by sound while its running. Ive done that before and it works...you gotto be REALLY carefull that way though.....Its kind of the red neck way of doin it....and its alittle scary because your not sure if your going to damage your engine in the process. So I guess Id probably reccoment 42Hotrods method. MOST but not all of that ticking will go away once its adjusted. Chances are the inside of the rockers and the shafts are already galled up from years of use and that contributes to the ticking. Sometimes Ive seen Y blocks with top oilers added aftermarket...but I'll tell ya straight up...they dont do a thing and are worthless. The only reason y blocks get a bad name sometimes is because guys in the 60's would run the snot out of those things and theyd blow up at 6500 RPM's...you cant run them as hard as a 283 or 327 chevy... BUT anyway, id say that ticking noise hasnt hurt anything yet and it probably has alot more life left it in, Y blocks are good engines and last along time if you run them right...thats my two cents from rebuilding and owning several Y block powered cars. Oh and i almost forgot...those adjusters could possibly be baked on there solid and wont turn...I dont know what to do in that situation though....I guess thats when you buy new shafts and rockers...which wouldnt hurt anyway, and all the excessive ticking would most likely go away too
Also note that the rockers get a small wear spot in them where they contact the valve . Makes getting accurate adjustment a *****. What I use in a case like that is a feeler gage with real narrow blades made for setting points. + 1 for doing it running with a feeler gage as when you get it a bit to tight that valve won't close and that cylinder will miss. Back it off a RCH till that cylinder fires again and you're golden.
Y blocks are all solid lifter, correct? That rules out adjusting by ear on a running motor unless you're really really familiar with that specific engine's noises. Even then it ought to rule it out anyway.
The looser it is the louder it ticks. Some of that ticking noise comes when everythings all loose and slapping around in there from the cars entire life of never being adjusted...Ive tighted them rockers down alittle by just listening to it, then I go out and drive the car and not here as much rocker noise....at least thats what Ive found with all my Y blocks (with a real quiet exhaust)...but hey thats just my opinion....again its alot different engine than a small block chevy.
Okay, Start off with taking your engine to TDC(with the valve covers off). You need a feeler gauge that is at 0.020"(for cold adjustment) With the engine at TDC mark a line at 180 Degrees opposite of TDC(this is the second point) then 270 Degrees from the second point(putting it between the factory TDC markings and the 180 degree markings. THIS IS YOUR THIRD AND FINAL POINT YOU GO TO.) It is wise to mark these with chalk. At TDC you adjust No.1 Exhaust No.1 Intake No.4 Exhuast No.2 Intake No.5 Exhaust No.7 Intake Now Rotate the engine to the second point(the point 180degrees opposite of TDC)(This puts piston 4 on TDC) At 180 Degrees opposite of TDC you adjust No.6 Exhaust No.4 Intake No.8 Exhaust No.5 Intake Rotate the engine 270 degrees, putting you on the third marking.(the marking between tdc and 180 degrees opposite of tdc)(No.3 Piston is now on TDC) At 270 past 180 degrees opposite of TDC adjust No.2 Exhaust No.3 Intake No.3 Exhaust No.6 Intake No.7 Exhaust No.8 Intake Remember that y-block valves are(from front to rear) E-I-I-E-E-I-I-E and that the cly. No.s go from 1-2-3-4(right bank) 5-6-7-8(left bank) Also note, that this is only the preliminary adjustment, and that a final adjustment should be made after running the engine for 30 minutes, and should be a 0.019". That being said, I have mine adjusted cold at 0.020" and it sounds like a really quite typewriter. If you have any questions, just ask.
Yeah, its no problem. The best of luck! Also, I'm sorry your truck is totalled, but it is great that you are fine.
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