Wachterl442

I am rebuilding my 350 and want to know how to do the rocker arms ive read and heard of a few different ways to do it but dont trust any of it 100%. Its all going back to stock nothing crazy being done to it. Thanks for the help.

joe_padavano

What do you mean by "do the rocker arms"? Olds arms are not adjustable. You bolt them down and torque to spec, period. This assumes you have a stock engine with parts that are not excessively worn. If you have an aftermarket cam or have changed other parts or have had a valve job done by a shop that is not Oldsmobile-savvy, you will likely have other issues and may require custom length pushrods or conversion to adjustable rockers.

Wachterl442

Ive been told to just drop the rods in and torque the arms to 25ft and ive been told to spin the motor to both valves closed for each arm as you torque them

joe_padavano

Rather than relying on hearsay, read the procedure in the Chassis Service Manual. Most times the "I've been told" information is wrong. FYI, the CSM doesn't say anything about needing to rotate the engine.

oldcutlass

Some people do prefer the valves being closed to torque the rocker assy's down.

joe_padavano

OK, but I can't see why it matters. The valvetrain will have the same loads in it when the engine is running. It may make it easier to get the bolts started (like rotating the engine when installing the fuel pump), but the reality is, it doesn't matter. The only possible thing I can see is that having the lifters on the base circle of the cam will prevent a ham-fisted "mechanic" from fully tightening one rocker before snugging the other, which could snap the die cast bridge. Of course, a little common sense prevents that also, but sadly common sense is no longer common.

GEARMAN69

Blind folded with a small impact and drunk but results may vary................