I never thought to do a compression check. It sure does run a lot better now, so I probably did have some leakage through the valves. They were pretty tight.

Did you happen to do a compression check any time before adjusting the valves? If so you could do it again and see if it gained some. Sounds as if you might have from your drive report.
Seeing this is reminding me to check my clearances as I have one cylinder lower than the rest and it could be due to a valve clearance problem.
The 36 specs are 6 and 8 hot or 7 and 12 cold.

Quote from: chetbrz on January 10, 2018, 09:24:46 PM
I'm pretty sure there is a hot and cold setting.  Usually I go a little tight on the cold setting and possibly tweak it if there appears to be a problem.    The 0.010 - 0.012 might be your cold settings.  My 48 is similar to your 54 and the book calls for 0.010 intake/exhaust for a hot engine.  Cold clearance for a cold engine is 0.014.  For a cold engine I would use 0.010 and it should slip very easily.  If I used 0.012 I would expect a little more friction when pulling out the gauge.  It will tighten as the engine gets hot.   You can also use a <go> 0.010 and a <no/go> 0.015 for a cold engine.  Then again it's all about feel. (+- 0.005)  The main thing is that there is enough gap so that the valve completely closes (at all rpms) when the engine is hot.

My 2 cents,  Chet...

PS... The valves can tick but shouldn't TAP.  If you feel that you are getting a little more power now it might be that your setting were to tight.., which might affect your high end power.

Over the years, when rebuilding those engines (201 218 230 251, etc.) we set the exhaust valves to .012 cold, intakes to .010. The probability is that the owners were ever so unlikely to re-check them and set them correctly after the engine had been in service awhile, so we thought it prudent to allow for some valve wear.

cheers

Carla

I'm pretty sure there is a hot and cold setting.  Usually I go a little tight on the cold setting and possibly tweak it if there appears to be a problem.    The 0.010 - 0.012 might be your cold settings.  My 48 is similar to your 54 and the book calls for 0.010 intake/exhaust for a hot engine.  Cold clearance for a cold engine is 0.014.  For a cold engine I would use 0.010 and it should slip very easily.  If I used 0.012 I would expect a little more friction when pulling out the gauge.  It will tighten as the engine gets hot.   You can also use a <go> 0.010 and a <no/go> 0.015 for a cold engine.  Then again it's all about feel. (+- 0.005)  The main thing is that there is enough gap so that the valve completely closes (at all rpms) when the engine is hot.

My 2 cents,  Chet...

PS... The valves can tick but shouldn't TAP.  If you feel that you are getting a little more power now it might be that your setting were to tight.., which might affect your high end power.

I checked the valve clearances on the 39 and all were too tight according to a new "go-no-go" feeler gauge. Most of them I couldn't get a 0.004" feeler in, my smallest size. The engine is a 54 and according to the repair manual, the intakes should be 0.010" and the exhaust 0.010-0.012".  It took a while but I set everything to those specs and now I hear what seems like every valve in it. The job was done with the car at 160F and about 500 RPM idle. Should I reset them a little tighter anyway? Or should I live with a little noise? It may be my imagination, but the beast seemed a little faster when I took it for a test drive. The specs for a 39 call for intake at 0.006 and exhaust at 0.008, both hot. Maybe I should try those numbers. Any thoughts are appreciated.