Well......I goofed. I set my valve lash on my solid lifter cam based on memory....memory of the wrong spec. It is suppposed to be 0.016 Intake and 0.018 Exhaust when hot. This should more or less equal 0.018 and 0.020 when cold. However, I set all valves to 0.025" cold.

Now normally I would think this can't effect performance very much, just valvetrain component longevity, however......

Reading up on all this, I find that a loose lash effectively makes the cam look smaller to the engine and that would tend to improve low-end torque at the expense of high end Hp.

BUT, a long time ago I bought a used MGB. An owner ran the engine dry of oil and the guy I bought it from re-did the engine by installing a Marina short-block. Odd thing was, I could squeal the tires from idle, but it would hardly go over 30 mph. Turned out the guy had adjusted the valves for zero lash. I put it back to British-Leyland valve lash specs and everything was fiine. Engine would rev, and of course it would no longer squeal the tires at all.

Now that MGB story goes completely against what I've read about changing valve lash. Can anybody enlighten me a bit about it?

ps: and "yes", I will be setting to proper specs soon....just curious at this point....