I just measured the valve lash on the remanufactured 360 I've have hanging on an engine hoist. I fashioned a lever that I could hook under the valve side of the rocker and apply pressure to fully compress the lifter.
Here's what I measured with lifters compressed.


The reman engine I have consists of:
A C8AE-H cly head
A D2TE AA cly head
A C6ME-A block
Does anyone have valve lash measurements for this from a source that they feel confident of?
I have found three different measurements given for what is acceptable valve clearance.
They are:
0.078to 0.218
0.100 to 0.200
Allowable= 0.119 - 0.219 Desired= 0.144- 0.184
My thinking is, if there is any valve recession these mostly low end clearance measurements will get tighter. The local auto parts store has all three sizes of pushrods on hand. If the valves with the tight clearance measurements do not already have the short pushrods, should I install the .060" shorter ones in all that measure less than .150"?
Thanks for any help

 

You're measuring preload here, not valve lash. It's obvious too from the measurments that you've got two different heads. The only one that may need help is 4I. How does it run ?

 

It is not running, it is still hanging on an engine hoist and has never been installed since I received it. This is the second reman engine from Oreilly's. The first never got installed. It had bent pushrods, bad rockers, and a camshaft that was scored and pitted. I've got 120 grit sandpaper that's smoother than that cam was! I should have just demanded my money back plus the core value of my old engine and went elsewhere, but I gave them another chance.

Of the preload values I listed in the first post, do you know which is the factory values?

 

A new cam does not have smooth cam lobes. They are rough, having a parkerized finish. The rough wears off as the cam lobes break in. The rough surface is there to impart spin to the lifters in the initial startup. No spin = no cam lobe of lifter after about 30 minutes run time. The spin prevents the lifter face and lobe from wearing prematurely. Typical preload as I recall is anything up to around .060. You can guesstimate it by measuring the amount of travel in the pushrod cup in the lifter, preload should be about half the travel in the cup inside the lifter.