what size feeler gage should i use when tightening the rocker arms down.

 

The right size. LOL. I assume you arereferring toa solid lifter cam which is usuallyinstalled inall out engines. That being the case, you need to find out the brand cam, and then ask the people that ground it what the clearance should be. If you have hydraulic lifters like most engines use, then there is no need for feeler gages.

 

i have hydraulic lifters... my dad told me to do it because thats the way we do it on farm tractors.

 

On the farm do you also compare apples to oranges. Unless you have done any work there the hydraulic are no maintence.

 

ok so whats the right way to do it?..i put in 2 new lifters..the rockers are all loose..went through all to find the bad lifters..its an 89 305 tuned port..a link to a site with how to do it would be nice thanks

 

You put in 2 new lifters only? What you should have replaced was all 16liftersand a new cam, and a new timing chain set while you're at it. Each cam lobe and lifter wear together as a set. Putting a new lifter on an old cam is opening yourself to some wear/galling issues on the cam lobes. Prepare yourselffor a premature cam lobe (or two) failure in the future.

 

yea i see what u mean...but how premature..cuz i am gonna put in a new cam in about 4 months..this was just a quick fix for now..only going to be driven for a bit since winter is coming.

 

There really isn't a defined timetable to say it will go out on "X" day, and since a very short term is the plan, go ahead. Since you're replacing everything soon anyway, you don't havemuch to lose.

 

Since you only did 2 I will give you the short way of setting up the preload.
Turn the engine until the cam lobes are down. Valves closed. loosen the rockers if they are tightend now and then turn the nut until you remove the lash from the pushrod. Oncethe pushrod stops turning by finger then turn the nut an aditional 1 1/2 turn.
When you do all 8 cylinders then you have the engine on #1 TDC power stroke (look at the position of the dizzys and it should be where #1 fires) and can adjust exhaust 1,3,4,8 and intake 1,2,5,7. Rotate the engine 1 complete revolution and adjust the other valves.
You may hear just start the engine and get it up to operating temp and tighten the nuts until the noise goes away but I consider that the stupid back yard mechanic way.