Feel free to point and laugh, but how do I set the valve lash on the mopar factory rockers? I'm new to chryslers.

They don’t have any adjustment points from what I remember seeing last. Is it all managed by the pushrod length and hydraulic lifter? I know you can shim the shaff assembly if needed but that’s not what I have to do.

I know the general procedure for adjusting the valves, just confused on the adjuster that actually controls that adjustment. I am just trying to set the lash for the initial fire up.

Thanks for the help, sorry for the lame question.

non adjustable rockers on a stock head

the lifter does the lash with the soild PR

if you had adjustable rockers you would have a bolt and jamb nut on the rocke to adjust

your over-thinking it for fire up...just prime the oil pump with a drill and turn the engine over by hand a few times while the drill is pumping oil

when you get oil to the rockers,your set for start up

side note...they will clatter some till fully pumped up on start up but should stop clattering and quite down

I pull the plugs and spin it in short burst with the starter to get it primed also

Thanks Scratch, that is what I was thinking after a bunch of noodling around but there just isn’t much info out there (I guess because there is nothing to do!)
Just wanted a confirmation and what you listed is perfect and helps. Thanks.
Starting her up this weekend hopefully!

Is this a stock motor or did you modify it? Shaved heads, different cam, and pistons.

Hi - It's mainly stock with a bit bigger cam and higher compression. It was built by an engine shop and other than knowing what's in the bottom end the heads are a bit of a mystery. Heads have been redone and appear to be stock.

I hear ya. Pushrod length is really the only adjustment and hopefully that was checked by the builder.

BB Oil pump turns counter-clockwise, if you're spinning it clockwise you'll never feel the oil in the pump or get a PSI reading. Use a zinc additive in the oil. While you're turning the motor to set lash, check that the rockers are sweeping across the centers of the valve stems; if they're contacting the keepers, retainers, or the edges of the stems, there's a geometry problem.

Let's hope!

Thanks for the question. Like I said I'm new to the mopar big blocks and they are a little different here and there. I've read some books too, but every bit of your help is appreciated.

Wow this forum is great- lots of quick responses.

I hadn’t heard that about the counter clockwise rotation, although I have that section dog-eared in my book so maybe I would have noticed?

I’ll definitely eyeball the rockers, pushrods and valves to see if all looks correct, thanks for the suggestion.

The engine seems to be from a reputable builder so I am sorta confident that they set everything up right. Never hurts to double check though.

Oh yeah I have six quats of comp cams high zinc break in oil. How long should I leave it in there before changing it - like 10 miles or 100 OR?

When breaking in a new cam/lifter set, you fire up the motor and immediately get it to 2500rpm. For the next 20-30 minutes you vary the rpm between 2500-3000rpm, you go up and down by 200 or so rpm every minute. Then after that 20-30 minutes is over you change oil/filter. Put the high-zinc oil in again and keep it in there for the next 500 miles. Then change.

What DT just said, though I'm a little lazier on the 2nd oil & filter change for a street motor at about 1,000 miles.
I like to cut the filter open and look at the filter media, but be forewarned if you do that you'll see a lot of break-in trash from the valve springs & such. Sometimes depending on who rebuilt the motor there's also some lint in the filter from shop rags.
First start-up I use water only for coolant, that way if there's a leak you won't stain the paint.
Set the distributor & timing so it'll start right away, do not grind away at the starter. Motor might run a bit hot at first, so I keep a big fan ready to point at the radiator if need be.

Thanks for the suggestions. It's raining today so I'm hoping tomorrow will be the day. Thank you all again!

Thanks for the help. The engine fired up and ran great right off the bat. Here is a video... the smoke is just the header paint saying bye bye.