for my situation here, nobody online offers thicker head gaskets or shorter pushrods, so shimming up my rockers looks like the best option i have in front of me.

Are those washers going to be able to stay on the rockers while the motor runs? Seems a little risky...

I've seen bottles like that or they even have hand pumps that you attach a hose to the bleeder then to a bottle/tub and just pump it by hand and it sucks the fluid out. My old work had those for the technicians. I think when I bleed the brakes is when I replace the calipers. I can also do the cylinders as well.

I know it's a long shot but what would happen if you stacked 2 head gaskets on top of each other? I'm sure it would create a leak point but if you got the bolts tight enough would it seal?

i think your mental picture of rocker arms doesn't quite fit my engine. heres a pic of the rocker with a .060 washer under it. https://www.dropbox.com/s/zzg4ofn41n...2018.14.17.jpg one of these days i'll get my pics to show up inline like i'm supposed to :)

stacking 2 head gaskets sounds too risky to me, i've heard of thicker gaskets being offered for other engines, but a google search found nothing for mine, and all the good parts suppliers are closed for the night, so i can't call around

Whoah Whoah Whoah Wait up here Josh. What's going on what are you working on and is there a thread on it somewhere?

From what I gather here you have valves hitting pistons, shimming the rocker WILL NOT I repeat WILL NOT help this(nore will shorter pushrods. The lift is the lift, the distance from the face seat in the head to the piston is what is, AND the lift of the cam is what it is. IDK what your working on but shimming the rocker will do NOTHING to help.

You have options, first however how do you know you have a valve interferance problem. Second decking the surfacing doesn't often take off enough to cause clearance issues, but bad cam timing easily can, double and triple check the cam timing.

hey opossum, i just got that answer on the other thread... it had the appearance of helping, but you're right, we still have the same lift from the cam. my main thread is here https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-gasket-4.html and then i hijacked this one when i ran into his same issue https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post12774494

as for cam timing, i'm running with the original shaft, and haven't disturbed the relationship of the gear to the shaft, and i have the marks lined up, therefore its as right as its ever been.

You had the block decked and pistons out but not the cam?

He had his headgasket go out, nothing to do with the cam in particular. Had the heads surfaced to make sure they aren't warped.

sure, i had the cam out of the block, but put it back in with the timing marks lined up. the cam gear remained on the camshaft, and the marks are lined up properly, so theres nothing there i could have screwed up.

as i just said on the other thread, i have a number of stuck lifters that i can't collapse, and they weren't letting my valves close when the rockers were screwed down tight. they appear to be the whole problem, so i'll be changing them out and that should solve it.
once i have those, i'll verify that my valves remain closed when i screw the rockers down tight, and if they do, i'll recheck my clearances again. if they still push open, then i'll want to shim under the rockers just enough to let them close, as that may be necessary to make up for how much was taken off the block and head surfaces, the only other alternative being shorter pushrods, which don't appear to be available.

I see. I had not been reading the other threads. A stuck
lifter will cause a problem. I take it you have pulled them
out and put then under light pressure with a push rod to try
and collapse then (light presser = hand pressure).
The ones I have to deal with in the Cessna aircraft we take
apart, clean, reassemble and then test.
Are they roller or flat?

Sean :-drink

yeah, now that i got my lifters to collapse finally, we spin over just fine. as of a few hours ago, 3 of them hadn't collapsed far enough for me to be able to wiggle the rocker arm, so i'm leaving those under the most stress (valve open), to prove that i can give them the ok. i just got done throwing a can of paint at it, so in an hour or two i'll pull that valve cover back off and take the old valley pan back off - i only used it for masking, and then i'll be able to verify i have those lifters all free. once thats verified, i can get to sliding the engine back into the van, which will probably have to happen on monday

I might start working on my rear brakes tomorrow... Not sure if I really want to but I don't think I have any plans tomorrow. The other thing is, I don't have the proper tools for drum brakes, how hard do you guys think it would be to just knock it out with pliers and screw drivers? My neighbor has the tools but I don't know his work schedule and I don't want to bother him by asking to borrow his tools if I can manage without them.

i've always done it with vise grips. the biggest thing is just keeping track of what order things go together in.

pliers = busted knuckles and no progress
vise grips = progress and no busted knuckles

I'll see if I have vice grips... I know We have various Channel Locks but I am not sure about Vice grips. Last time I saw a pair in our garage was years ago haha, I'm sure I will figured out something that will work.

if you don't have vise grips, buy some! you'll thank me later.

a quick update on my build, i got the valve issues all worked out just by forcing the lifters to bleed down, and now i've got the valve covers on, everything painted up, etc. i rotated the engine around, and attached it to the hoist in a position that should work well for sliding it in.

i only have a few concerns about actually sliding it into the van, and mostly its about the weight of the engine and how that compares to the strength of the hoist and the hitch on the truck its mounted to. with the hoist boom 2/3 extended, i could see the reciever on the truck flex a bit when i put the weight of the engine onto it. so once i have the truck in position i'm gonna put a bottle jack under the tip of the hitch insert, as far aft as i can, to take the torque off the reciever.
then i just have to hope that as i extend it all the way out to where the hoist is only rated for 500# that i don't overload it enough to cause any trouble.

its not that i'm a real stickler on ratings and stuff, i just like to be very aware of what they are before i exceed them - like today when i put an abrasive wheel rated at 4500RPM in a die grinder rated 25000 RPM. sure, i'm over 5 times its rating, i know where i am, therefore i can handle it if something goes wrong :)