travis
Jul 2nd, 04, 08:33 PM
I am curious about this. I think I may be setting my poly locks too tight when adjusting valves because when I went thru this 388 again, I ended up having several of the regular style crane poly locks screwed up...I couldn't move the set screw at all like they was locked in the threads. This was off the engine of course. I just replaced them all with a set of crane cool nuts. How tight do you guys set your lock screws on these things? I typically adjust the lash, then back off maybe 1/8 turn, tighten the lock screw, then reset the lash, and it is pretty damn tight doing it this way.
Engine and tranny is back in the nova. Just got to hook the driveshaft back up, stab the distributor, bolt up the exhaust, and cross all the fingers and toes.
Blue69
Jul 3rd, 04, 11:43 AM
Travis,
I set lash with polylocks pretty much the same as you do. Usually adjust until clearance is slightly loose, snug down set screw, then tighten down on nut to proper clearance. Maybe you just got a bad set, or you were feeling extra strong that day. Good luck with getting your car back on the road, if it makes you feel any better, the projects that give me the most trouble always seem to turn out best in the long run, hope that's how it works out for you, too
Eric68
Jul 3rd, 04, 12:13 PM
I agree with Blue69 -- I do it the same way. Set the lash a little loose, tighten the set screw, then tighten the nut a little more.
There's no such thing as a set screw being too tight IMO.
I have seen some cheap-azz poly locks though. Seems like sometimes they don't clean the threads up inside real nice for you. I've had to clean a couple with a tap before to get the set screw running clean.
This takes a little practice but I've found it works real well... Set your lash to the recomended specs then run the set screw down until it contacts the the stud and just snug it slightly. Then tighten both the alan head screw and the hex nut equally against each other. The hex wrench has a lot more leverage than the alan wrench which is where you need to be careful. If you tighten them even the lash won't change and the poly locks won't come loose.