stupid questions about engine building

[TylerT/AZ28]

okay so no mater how much i research the torque specs and procedures for certain things i cant for the sake of all thats holy get a straight answer so ill ask you guys. 1) what are the torque specs on an oil pan. first im told you need to permatex the corners and torque each bolt to 20. then im told dont permatex and go to 40. then i read on alldata that you permatex near the sides and torque those to 20ish and the rest of the to 100. im confused. questions 2) how do you prime an oil pump? i heard shove vaseline in it somewhere or dump oil in it, but id think it would spill out as soon as you flip the engine over. 3) how do you adjust roller tip rockers? i was told by both neighbors that you tighten them till they just touch the tip of the rocker arm and give it a quarter turn.

any help would be appreciated, i just cant seem to find straight answers and ive been looking on alldata, haynes manual, and a dozen or so car buddies and no consistencies.

[1BADAIR]

umm. what engine

[Boost Addict]

umm. what engine

This.

I'm assuming old school sbc.

Oil pan torque/RTV use really depends on what kind of gasket you're using.

Priming the oil pump - never used any sort of grease in it. Leave the intake off and get an actual oil pump primer and prime til you get oil to the top end.

Rocker arms - You can do engine running or off. On would be loosen the rocker arm nut until you can hear noise, then tighten 90 degrees. Engine off would be wait til the intake valve starts to close, then set the exhaust. Then when the exhaust valve starts to open, set the intake. This assures you're on base circle of the cam.

[Lucky SOB]

I'd be surprised to see more than 15 for an oil pan, but yeah... What engine?

[TylerT/AZ28]

sorry forgot 5.7L sbc

its a 1 piece oil pan gasket.

is the tool something i can rent from autozone or something?

and the rocker arms if you did it with the vehicle running do you tighten them until the nut doesnt move anymore before you start it? which method is easier and/or more precise?

[98blackbeauty]

go to shbox.com and read valve lash adjustments.

[1BADAIR]

have any old distributors? just take one apart and put a drill on the top side.

some people say to turn the pushrod while trying to find 0. rocking the rocker slightly until no movement works better.

[farmington]

before you put the oil pump in, dunk it in oil. Enough will remain inside so it will create suction when you prime the oil.

[meissen]

When it comes to adjusting the rockers, I'm a huge fan of doing it with the engine running. Dad and I tried to do adjustment on his LT1 while it was in the car and it's VERY subjective to find "zero lash" - if you do it with the engine running, you loosen the nut until you hear the rocker/pushrod clicking. Then you tighten until the clicking goes away. That's zero lash, then you do your preload (1/4th turn to 3/4th turn, depending on who you talk to)

On the flip side, if you're building the engine with it on an engine stand, we adjusted my rockers while the intake was off and we could see the pushrods touching the lifters. We followed the method where you do the intake valves all together, then turn it and do the exhaust valves all together. It was easy to do this method with it on the engine stand because you tighten the rocker nut until you see the pushrods apply pressure on the lifter - that's zero lash. Then do your preload. There's a writeup on rocker adjustment here:
http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#adjust_valves

[TylerT/AZ28]

have any old distributors? just take one apart and put a drill on the top side.

some people say to turn the pushrod while trying to find 0. rocking the rocker slightly until no movement works better.

im lost on what you mean by finding 0 and which pushrod?

[TylerT/AZ28]

before you put the oil pump in, dunk it in oil. Enough will remain inside so it will create suction when you prime the oil.

even if the engine is turned upside down it will keep some in it

[98blackbeauty]

Pushrod is the tube that goes from your lifter that rides on the cam to the rocker arm that opens the valve.
Is your engine in the car or on a stand?
What kind of engine do you have SBC? carb or fuel injected?
Solid lifters or hydrolic lifters?

[TylerT/AZ28]

tbi fuel injected 350. i know what a pushrod is i just didnt understand what was meant. hydraulic lifters, Lt1 cam from Brian, dart heads, roller tip rockers.

[my1994z28]

So is the motor on the stand?Is the intake off?where you at in Clinton Twp?

[TylerT/AZ28]

motors on the stand, intakes off, 16 and groesbeck