Another pushrod question

[Challenger in NC]

I adjusted the rocker shaft using 0.030" shims which I think improved the valve tip pattern. I believe it is more centered if you compare it to the earlier photo. Flat washer type shims were used to take up the lateral play and center the the rocker over the tip. There is between 0.010" and 0.015" of clearance between each rocker and adjacent spacer or hold down.
The rocker ball tip was adjusted to give one thread below the body, and with the 0.030 shims added, the 8.853" long pushrod appears to be very close. With the lifter on the baseline of the cam, the pushrod spins with little effort and is just at the point of engaging the plunger spring. I may need to add in a half turn to the roller tip adjuster? Second bank of rockers still need to be checked. Hope I'm doing this correctly. Shimming and checking the rocker geometry is a royal PITA but realize it must be done.

I also need to pull the oil pan off because every time I rotate the engine, I hear a slight "ping" sound at one point in the rotation. 

[734406pk]

I adjusted the rocker shaft using 0.030" shims which I think improved the valve tip pattern. I believe it is more centered if you compare it to the earlier photo. Flat washer type shims were used to take up the lateral play and center the the rocker over the tip. There is between 0.010" and 0.015" of clearance between each rocker and adjacent spacer or hold down.
The rocker ball tip was adjusted to give one thread below the body, and with the 0.030 shims added, the 8.853" long pushrod appears to be very close. With the lifter on the baseline of the cam, the pushrod spins with little effort and is just at the point of engaging the plunger spring. I may need to add in a half turn to the roller tip adjuster? Second bank of rockers still need to be checked. Hope I'm doing this correctly. Shimming and checking the rocker geometry is a royal PITA but realize it must be done.

I also need to pull the oil pan off because every time I rotate the engine, I hear a slight "ping" sound at one point in the rotation. 

The wipe pattern looks good! The rocker arm side clearance should be increased just a bit to get .015"-.030". Being made of aluminum, they will expand with heat so you don't want them too tight...Sometimes you can loosen the billet hold down and shift it under the bolt slightly to gain some added clearance, or reduce the shims or mill the spacer worst case. You will need 1 turn ( if you have 3/8-24 thread)  of preload after zero lash (the point in which all slack is taken out of the valve train) This will give you .042" preload on the hydraulic lifter. The rocker should then have 2 threads showing which is just right! The ping sound on rotation could be something like one of the con rods is hitting the windage tray or oil pump pick up tube, oil pan etc. You'll have to pull the pan and check it out. It should be easy to find, i hope. Nice job on the valve train set up ! Yes tedious work for sure!  

[Challenger in NC]

The wipe pattern looks good! The rocker arm side clearance should be increased just a bit to get .015"-.030". Being made of aluminum, they will expand with heat so you don't want them too tight...Sometimes you can loosen the billet hold down and shift it under the bolt slightly to gain some added clearance, or reduce the shims or mill the spacer worst case. You will need 1 turn ( if you have 3/8-24 thread)  of preload after zero lash (the point in which all slack is taken out of the valve train) This will give you .042" preload on the hydraulic lifter. The rocker should then have 2 threads showing which is just right! The ping sound on rotation could be something like one of the con rods is hitting the windage tray or oil pump pick up tube, oil pan etc. You'll have to pull the pan and check it out. It should be easy to find, i hope. Nice job on the valve train set up ! Yes tedious work for sure!

I too suspect that it may have something to do with the windage tray as I had to dent one side of it to clear the oil pickup. Thanks for the feedback.

[HP_Cuda]

The amount of turn past zero lash is determined by the cam. I would call your cam manufacturer and find out.

[Challenger in NC]

The amount of turn past zero lash is determined by the cam. I would call your cam manufacturer and find out.

Lunati recommended 0.040".

[HP_Cuda]

 

Cool then turn it till you get .040"

[Challenger in NC]

 

Cool then turn it till you get .040"

[734406pk]

Yep ... 3/8-24 thread is one turn = .042" preload. Just verify your thread pitch, I'm not 100% clear on what it is. The preload is to compensate for future valve train wear to minimize adjustments, make things more "maintenance free". I would not be concerned with an exact preload here .030"- .050" is acceptable range IMHO, but use the cam manufacturer's spec to be safe. You are doing an excellent job on your build btw...

[Challenger in NC]

Yep ... 3/8-24 thread is one turn = .042" preload. Just verify your thread pitch, I'm not 100% clear on what it is. The preload is to compensate for future valve train wear to minimize adjustments, make things more "maintenance free". I would not be concerned with an exact preload here .030"- .050" is acceptable range IMHO, but use the cam manufacturer's spec to be safe. You are doing an excellent job on your build btw...

Sounds good. Thanks to you and the other fellas for the assistance. I'm sure I'll need some more later on.