Rocker Arm Studs + More trouble now

[Fordtastic]

What are you going to do about your adjustable rockers?
clint

I took pictures to the local machinist that does all the engine rebuilding for speed shop in town.. He didnt recommend getting roller rockers without pulling the heads and having the valve stems reground.. he said that with the screw in studs (that dont have positive stop) that a stock form of rocker arms will work fine.. he told me of a kit offered that if i had the positive stop kind that simply just puts in a spacer between the nut and the fulcrom (hmm i think that is what it is called.. lost the drawing i was just looking at) allowing them to be adjustables.. he said to just carefully check for any clearance issues.

[fordman]

if the engine's distributor runs counter clockwise then the motor runs clockwise?

here is a picture of a Fe 352 360 390. dist turning direction and firing order.

[Fordtastic]

but if i were to turn the motor by hand off the crankshaft i would have to go clockwise to be turning motor in normal operating direction correct? my distributor turns same direction as your motor and my firing order is the same as yours.

[fordman]

yea the picture is fo all the engines listed in the picture. so you are getting it all right it sounds like. was that your question?

[Fordtastic]

im adjusting the valve's and was just curious.. i guess it doesnt make sense to turn the crank counter clockwise by the bolt but wanted to make sure.. i guess i could pop the dist in and move the motor and see.

[Fordtastic]

ok i see the 302 listed on there now!! thanks for the help... hopefully saturday I will atempt to get it running.. im taking it very slow as i dont want to mess anything up.

[Fordtastic]

Ok I have the valves adjusted, the last of the parts are painted.. Im changing the oil as we speak... I finally found a way to get my drill attached to a 1/4 drive socket........ this might sound like a stupid question but should i put the intake manifold on before i prime it with the drill?

[DuckRyder]

......should i put the intake manifold on before i prime it with the drill?

I would, go ahead and have everything ready to drop the distributor in and fire it off, remember, as soon as it lights off run it above 2000 rpm for 20-30 minutes, you can and should vary the rpm a bit, but don't let it drop below 2000.

[BobbyFord]

I always drill a 1/8" hole in the thermostat at 12 o'clock to prevent any bubbles in the cooling system. I don't like to have to shut down in the middle of a cam break-in because the t-stat won't open.

[Fordtastic]

ok thanks!!! one more goofy question sorry !!! can i add the new oil and breakin additive by pouring it into the valley the lifters sit in?

[DuckRyder]

You can... in fact pouring some over the cam might not be a bad idea... try not to wash any of the lube off of the lobes though...

[Fordtastic]

bleh i just had a nice issue with a stripped thread on the hole for the fuel pump! longer bolt seemed to grab and torque.. I may end up having to pull that off later and heli-coil it if it leaks.......

Question... Im about to put on my intake manifold... one side of the gasket has raised parts around the ports and the other indents.. i was wondering what side goes against the head... Should i go ahead and rtv both sides of the gasket ? I have read lots of folks doing the water ports but how about the rest?

I know not to use the cork end seals and to put rtv there instead.. but on the rest of the gasket do i use rtv on that as well?

[Fordtastic]

ok i did some research.. most folks are saying the beads go up toward intake, seal the water port with rtv. Trick flo reccommends putting some rtv around the ports on the intake manifold... All of yours opinions matter more though so im holding off for now.

[DuckRyder]

Most gaskets that I have seen where it matters have either "front" or "top" on them. That failing I have always put the raised beads up (toward the intake), but honestly don't know why. (so that might not be "right".)

I would use RTV VERY sparingly if at all on the actual gasket, too much will make it slide around.

Of course if you gaskets came with any instructions I would follow that over most Internet advice...

[Fordtastic]

also the ports dont seem to exactly match up with the gasket...