Step 7: Case assembly

Now the major parts go in. The crank gets slid in then bolt the connecting rod to the crank and install lifters. Place the cam-gear making sure the crank-gear and cam-gear marks line up. At this time I slide the sump on and check valve lash. I use a feeler gauge to measure. I personally like to see 0.020" on both valves. This ensures very good compression, that the valves fully seat, minimizes the valve overlap which has too much built into these cams and also effectively overrides most of the exhaust compression release built into the cam lobe. This particular block had only 0.010" on the exhaust and NONE on the intake. In fact the intake never fully seated. Without checking, the compression would have been horrible and very difficult to start. I've seen this on several motors so far. I do the necessary grinding to the lifters to give 0.010" cold lash on both valves. Don't forget the oil slinger, gasket and when bolting the sump cover on make sure you use sealant on the bolt that goes into the valve chamber otherwise you'll get leaks.