i have a 400 with 2v heads the rocker arm bolt has a box type spacer that fits in the head. i just did a head gasket on it and i am trying to find out if i need to space these or torque them if so how much gap or to torque to thanks

 

Bolt em down, torque em to 25 ft lbs and forget about it. They're non adjustable and there's enough freeplay in the lifter pluger to compensate for any changes due to a head gasket change.

 

okay will do thanks

 

Realistically you should be fine. just be aware of any funny ticking noises after installation. I had a rebuilt set of heads that the machinist didnt quite get the corrections correct. I had a pedastal that was a tad short that put too much load on the lifter and basically turned it into a solid. Took a turn and a half to get it in the mid zone of the lifter. A shim sorted that. When I rebuit the engine a little while later I was keeping an eye out for that pedastal and maybe the gasket was a little thicker or something but it was fine and I actually had another pedastal that had too much clearance and the rocker had no load at all!
I cheated and removed some metal from the bottom of the rocker fulcrum to aceive the same result. Not ideal but the engine was fully assembled and I was not upto a dis-assembly or any further costs. Fingers crossed it's had a few thrashings and still ok but I do want to retro a set of roller rockers so that problem will go away one day. You can go through and check them all if you wish by just pretending you are setting rocker lash. you do them up until the pushrod has a little load on them and if the bolt only turns a certain amount (something like a 1-1/4 but cant quite remember) when it's torqued it is in the range of the plunger of the lifter.
I would go with the first method of doing them all up and see if you have a problem but be aware just in case.
Good luck

 

Sounds just like your machinest didn't set all the valve tip heights equally. Some shops have no idea how to do a valve job the right way. When you get your heads back every valve tip should be at equal heights or you will have trouble setting your lifter preload.

 

I agree that is exactly what he did (didn't do) but I don't know why it changed the way it did in my case after I had the block decked. Odd as while I didn't check them when I first installed them I definitely didn't have a loose one.

 

X2 on that Craig. That is ONE of the "little things" that can come back on you and bite your butt. My machinest is one of the best in my area and a GOOD valve job has to be ordered and you wait till he is done....... or you can take it to someone else. This man is ALWAYS busy. John