I'm an old timer, was 13 in 1960 and was privileged to live through that golden age of American automobile history. I've been amazed at the 'unspoken' questions I've had, that several of your videos have clearly answered. You rightly deserve the title of 'professor', much more than so many who hang that on their names...but 'Uncle' Tony is much more fitting, as you speak to us in your videos as a wise uncle would explain things to a favorite nephew. I love your 'lectures', keep up the good work.

As my old farmer neighbor used to say, "Pay attention, I'm gonna learn ya something!" Thanks for the education UT.

old motorcycles are my bag, 'but motors is motors'. i like this guy and what he passes on.

One of the things I was most impressed with on the job the machine shop did for me >25 years ago when I modified a couple sets of 360 heads to 2.02 intake valves was that the valve stems were spot on, not even 0.001" difference installed height. Yes, they were brand new Manley Stainless Steel valves so would have all been the same length to start with so they didn't have to grind any stems or anything, but they *bothered* to actually grind the seats precisely to depth so each installed spring height, every top of valve stem was *bang on* Impressive! I loved that machine shop. Did three engines at once that time, two 360s and a 351W. They assumed I was a race team or something, kept going above and beyond for me at virtually no extra charge. Shot-peening and stress relieving rods, equalizing weights to fractions of a gram... Geez, they only charged me $200 a pop to do full spin balancing on the whole rotating assembly including dampers and flywheels. Ah, those were the days!

You have taught me so much Uncle Tony. Your FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE and willingness to teach people is greatly appreciated and underprized.

This episode by Uncle Tony is equal to the best one he's ever done as far as helping out average backyard mechanics and engine builders. He explained things in a simple fashion that anybody could follow.

It's a pleasure to hear how much you can improve just by measuring everything, it's probably what's called BLUEPRINTING

I love how you differentiate between "stated reason" and "actual reason" for pre-load.

Hi Tony! Wish you had premised this by clarifying that the stock Mopar valve train is far more rigid, removing the larger rocker studs, stud girdles and other bandaids that non- Mopar engines use to control deviation/deflection in the valve train. The best ALWAYS go to SHAFT mounted adjustable rockers REGARDLESS if the motor is Chevy or any other. I have built many GM and Chrysler, love both, but as Guru David Vizard said, in the past, Chrysler was at the top of the heap for rod ratio's, deep skirted blocks, rigid valve trains, etc., Which GM adopted much later. that said, I built and still have a sbc 406 In a 1976 Monte Carlo daily driver at 460 HP (shaft mounted adjustable rockers NOT CHEAP) and a solid roller 440 bored and stroked to 512ci in a 1972 New Yorker with 720hp at 6820 rpm daily driver. Both have been reliable but for periodic valve lash adjustments. I am constantly impressed with all the great content you generate for the new generation on how cool IS the old school!

I got a bunch out of that, I already know how to do all this but I never miss the opportunity to just listen to a pro go over things again, it keeps the knowledge fresh. And Tony's teaching is solid!

It is absolutely nuts how much information you are able to walk through and lay out for adverage Joe to understand.

So what you’re saying is that any performance gains go away if you can’t close the valves, and that just makes total sense to me 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

On my old 340 I took the rockers out of a pre '68 273 as they had solid cams and stumbled across some 6pack push rods (273 push rods are too long). BUT...that was back in the late '70s.

Such a good, IMPORTANT video! I've had machinists tell me that the importance of having the valve stems perfectly straight was a wives tale. "Without adjustable valve trains," I said, "you've been working on chevy's, and don't know how to set this up correctly do you?" Needless to say, I know why he kept pushing me so hard to buy a Harland Sharp roller rocker set, and why he already had my factory rocker arms/shafts bolted down! Won't be using him again for sure. Keep up the great work Uncle Tony

This seems like a good idea even on a street engine. Take your time, do it right and things will just last longer.

Ok, you can jump deep into the rabbit hole very quickly. That make more sense then all the explanations I had heard in my life time. Thanks for sharing.

Excellent tutorial, Tony. I had always wondered about the differences in preload, lash, and why valves would float in certain scenarios. I was raised on inline Chevys, the early ones had adjustable rockers, but the newer ones had, sometimes quite a bit of built-in preload. I had a good mechanic friend (long gone) who did things similar to how you do. I questioned him once on a procedure he was doing, he told me that I was filling up diapers when he was first doing mechanic work. I never questioned him again! Watch, listen, and learn!

I'm a beginner, messed around with two-stroke engines alot when I was younger.. but I'm now really interested in engines.. I'm busy fixing up just a normal car nothing special like you are doing but I wanna thank you for being a great tutor! I'm learning really fast! You explain it just the right way, keep it up, Thanks!!👍👍👍

Here in CALIFORNIA Not many people are getting over 5,000 rpm. Between the cops, traffic, and bad drivers, your lucky if you get to your destination alive. Great video and info.

You ought to talk to Jim's Family if possible and see if you can get that Road Runner possibly when or if the timing is right.. But it would be cool to try and honor him with the build somehow.. Or heck, build it for his family maybe would be an option.. That would be cool..

This is fascinating! I had an awful rattle with my 318 once put together. All it’s got is a comp 268h cam, edelbrock intake,carby and hei ignition with a full exhaust. The heads have never been off. Even on comps website it states that one will get valve train noise if not using adjustable rockers. I simply could not afford the adjustable rockers instead sought advice from a Mopar guru and he suggested 80thou lash caps. These were very cheap as opposed to a whole new rocker set and my engine is now quiet as but I do find that it’s reluctant to rev past 5 grand but seeing as it’s mainly a cruiser I’m really not fussed about it. It sure is responsive though. I’ve read good and bad things about lash caps but after nearly three years I’ve not had any dramas.

Your videos are so educational I've been working on cars for 40 years things never thought about.

Roller rockers will prevent premature valve guide wear if set up correctly and make more power. The rocker should be centered in the middle of the valve .you can mix and match valves and grind the stems so the straight edge has no gaps even with new parts. Now you have me thinking about valve geometry. How about spring rates and tired valve springs?

Haha, thanks for validating my thoughts from the 80's when I built my 383. Ran great to 5500 rpm then flattened right out. I was in my 20's, money was tight, and adjustable rockers were going to set me back too much to satisfy my hunch. Sold my Roadrunner and went back to school. Wish we had access to guru's like you back then.

Back in the 1989’s I helped my dad rebuild the 318 we put in my pickup truck. He said the exact same thing. He also matched the shortest pushrod to the tallest valve stem. He would also use an old lifter and dope the cup with lapping compound and use it to slightly shorten the push rods as needed to get as close to zero lash as he could get. After resurfacing the heads and decking the block he had a local cam shop regrind a stock cam for a low/mid rpm torque motor. A set of headers and a edelbrock torquer intake matched with a 600 cfm Holley carb made that 318 sing. It was a 68 model so it had the high compression heads and a steel crank. My short bed dodge truck with a 4 speed was pretty darned quick and that motor was stout. We didn’t have access to a dyno but from the weight of the truck and the times I turned in the quarter I would guess it hovered around 35-370 horsepower. It was a good street truck and it took down some of the highly touted cars being produced at the time. It was fun!

Every family needs an "Uncle Tony."

And I thought I was the only one that figured that out. Switching push rods with different height valves. Good video Tony.

This is why i loved small block chevys as a kid: run it with the valve covers off, oil deflector clips over the push rods, and tighten the rocker nuts one by one until the ticking stops, then a quarter turn more. When i first took the valve covers off a 318 i was stupified and ignorant and just didn't get it. Even the shims on a cosworth vega made sense, but Chryslers just seemed hokey.

so 20 years ago i was building up a 360 .... it ran pretty good , but then i got a set of heads off of a 340 with big valves , had a machine shop work them over and cut them down .... the owner said to make sure there was a 100 thou preload on the lifters .... this ended up being a sour running motor and i just realized why ..... thank you very much Tony

Im 60 and an old school mech. I enjoy the videos, and the ultra-gear head info you share Tony. I can build engines stock, but never hi pro. LOL I am a musician who loves old iron. Keep em coming .

Some people may call the stock parts “junk” but they were specifically engineered to run perfectly reliable with them. I love how Tony caters to the average guy out there with average means to do this which is the most expensive hobby you can possibly have! Its the most expensive and time consuming hobby to have and I love seeing how much you can improve on the quality stock parts! I’m like a personality double of tony but im only 36 years old! This is why i love this channel!

The best part about some of uncle Tonys videos is when he explains something its like " well no shit you should do that" then I think about it and, yeah I've never done that.

understanding the basics and fundamentals of an ICE is the foundation for building a good motor. u just gave us a good intro to the process of blueprinting top end gear. u bring back old school methods to building on a budget. good stuff..

My dad showed me a lot of tricks growing up and this is really detailed in how he had his 70 rt challenger 383 Cid running back before I was born

FE's are a bugger at this. Adjustable push rods almost a must 🙃

I knew where this was going immediately... lol. Been doing pushrod lengths and adjusting valve stem heights since I was rebuilding Briggs & Stratton engines when I was ten. The factory shaft rockers make things a pain in the ass. Where did chevy get the ball stud rocker design? Hint: It came from the division that had almost all the modern engine design from 1955, and had race only chevy stuff from 1967. Air gap intake, 14 degree valve inclination, dual valve springs, screw in studs, valley pan, fully machined gasket surfaces and combustion chambers, cam retaining plate controlling end play, and they are vastly easier to work on. They also make more torque between idle and 6000rpm than chevys, fords, and mopars with more cubes under the heads. Isn't it more fun to spend less money and go faster? Using stock garden variety parts, not needing the aftermarket to make good power is a cheap way to go about it. If someone thinks the sbc is the fast way to cheap power, I have a challenge nobody has wanted to take on. Use a factory head, factory cam/springs, factory intake, stock stroke and rod length. You can replace bearings, rings, oil pump, gaskets but you have to use the stock pistons it came with. Build a 400ci sbc and we will see who makes more power for less money. I have a car we can put it in too, same vehicle, gears, transmission, stall, everything. Its a 72 Ventura, so bring some Nova headers. I have an early 1970s vintage 400 short block on a stand that has never been apart. Its getting rings, bearings, oil pump, and a set of untouched 1969 garden variety D port heads and intake from the big cars. A 1968-70 cam that came in 4 barrel engines will move the valves. I got that engine for $50 and the heads with the intake for $200. I have people give me sbc junk all the time. If I can find someone to drive another truck and pull the other trailer, I will bring the Ventura to NNN. Used factory stuff vs used factory stuff.

Glad y'all survived .. Also thanks for the Schooling BOSS... @∅

No chance I'll ever tear apart another motor but I really enjoy your instruction because I do know things but I like to know WHY they are as they are. Thank you.

I spent hours measuring rockers and valvetrain stuff in my youth. We ran 351 Clevelands in the 70s at dirt tracks, and they have what Ford calls "positive stop" rockers from the factory, on everything but the HIPO stuff. We ran the CJ and Boss stuff, but there was a lot of differences even in the Harland Sharp stuff we used a lot. That was just part of what you had for the times. To this day, I still use the same techniques and practices I learned in my pre teen years. It works.

Great video just got my 390 heads back from machine shop notice the valves are slightly different heights. You cleared this up !! You are very clear on your teaching!

Wow, great information. Thanks Tony! Your so right every chevy guy always talks trash on mopar valvetrain. Thanks for clearing this up for me. Chrysler had the best engineering to keep them fast and dependable and affordable.

Man, you're making me want to go to my dad's garage and tear my spare motor apart and measure all this stuff! I'm working with 3800 Series II motors, but so much of what you teach on here is universal! I'm seriously considering blueprinting my other motor. I'm not planning on doing any serious racing with it, but I want it to be as smooth as my dad's BMW I6!

I enjoyed this video. I used a similar concept to optimize lash on my 2 valve GS Suzuki with the stock bucket shims, towards the tight end of the tolerance range for the intake valves and on the loose end of the range for the exhaust valves. Yes, the concept is universal to all engines, 2 or 4 wheels. Yes, you can easily “seat of the pants” discern the attention to detail. Motorcycles have mechanical valve lash adjustments, but I instinctively knew that when setting up a car with hydraulic lifters that the push rod combinations could not just be random. Thanks for explaining.

You are without a doubt, and I mean this is the least creepy way possible but you are the mechanical uncle I never had. Learned so much from these videos

Great explanation as always UT! 💪🏻 I did a very similar budget home build on my Holden 308 motor (common old Aussie donk from the 60s through to the late 90s) A lot of people called me crazy for wanting to retain the factory light weight stamped rocker mounts / arms - but I'd personally seen very high rpm capability and reliability on a properly setup engine. 0 decked it, took a lot off the heads and did a home-style port and polish job with a close to 0 lash setup on the valve train. A good friend (ex race engine builder) that helped me tune it all up after it was said and done said it was the quickest of the particular cam / head / intake / exhaust combination he'd ever driven. I always put it down to the multitude of extra hours setting it up and getting everything fine tuned rather than just bolting it together and calling it a day. Cheers!

Hands down , best informative video yet, you explained that perfectly, seriously love your channel mate. Keep pushing Tony.

Tony this content is epic - nothing else like it anywhere. So thankful you keep putting it out.

It's awesome to see tech of this depth touched on, great video as always!

Love your videos man!!! Working on getting this 5.9 magnum in my 92 hardbody

Amazing how you can explain complicated stuff and make it understandable ! Thanks Tony !

Surprised people nowadays don't know this. Good that you are educating them .

You confirmed my thoughts on what was going on a AMC engine to a Jeep that I have. I enjoyed the video and thanks for making this.

Your explanations and tricks are the best. To the point and with enough context to know the reasons why stuff was done particular way. I knew the concept but getting the practical guide how to work around the limitation of factory components is gold. CNC rockers are cool but getting 7/8 there with somewhat crappy factory stuff is great.

Very good video ! Great explanation of what REALLY goes on inside a valvetrain and what MUST be checked when building or modifying ANY engine !

Beautiful! I absolutely love the nitty gritty detail you go into. This uber technical stuff is right up my alley, event though I never have and probably never will build an engine.

UT: Provides virtually crucial information that someone was likely to attempt troubleshooting to eternity Also UT: I hope you got something outta that. Master of both engines and understatements :|

I really appreciated the "detailing" ideas in the valve train setup (i.e. long stem to short pushrod). That IS the cool stuff. Also when decking to not cause too much preload to lifters . . Thank you Tony. Always good stuff.

I was pondering rocker ratios and the resultant valve lifts for my SBC, and I learned that pushrod length is directly related to the rocker ratio. Standard SBC 1.5 rockers can actually be made to produce either higher or lower rocker ratios, by changing the pushrod length. There are limits to this, but there _is_ a useful range of adjustment. An interesting detail is that the actual ratio varies with lift, because the end of the rocker arm is describing an arc.

Saved to a playlist. Solid gold, valuable methodical insight. Thanks for another great lesson!

Love all the information you give out UT. I especially liked when you said, "Ya gotta be nuts to do this stuff!" I Immediately thought of an old boss who first hired me in a race engine shop, Dick Arons.

This is an issue I brought up with the machine I used for my '65 383 magnum virgin. He has a friend that does high end motors he got in touch with. I told I using the stock rocker shaft and push rods. With the springs that go with the cam they set the spring height that was called for, and no grinding needed for the inner spring. Neither of them had ever seen an original hp mopar engine untouched. It will be grumpy.

Great information build my frist engine at 17 all like working on engines took mechanic class at 17 in 1979. Still doing it in joy you channel.

I miss the junkyards being full of 273s. 284-484 purple cam and 273 valve gear in an X motor. YEEHAW

I am starting a freshened up 260 small block Ford next Monday. Thank you for expanding my understanding of things I have taken for granted.

Went through all that about 10 years ago when I built a 351m Ford. Bored/stoked to 408 Got the heads and block back from the machine shop and the valve stems were at different heights plus with everything being machined the valve geometry was all over the place. A few different lengths of pushrods and some shims and got everything dialed in. It was part of the engine build I didn't expect to spend so much time on. It was ridiculous.

Hey Tony, Tim here.....ya know the Royal Bobcat treatment for a '65 tri-power GTO had adjustable rockers, as one of the things they did........a half turn of pre-load is about .030 or so....thats what they did.....now that 389 tri-power sang to 6k or more with ease.....being a Poncho nut, i knew about this a LONG time ago, but OUTSTANDING info for the DIY dude, who dont really know our beloved ICE (internal combustion engine)...one more story: My Bosses buddy bought a '78 Z28 new......4 spd car......was a turd.....they put headers and intake on it.....same turd.....my boss felt the valetrain was to tight.......they put poly locks on it, with a half turn of preload, and BAM!!....it was a scalded dog!!!!.......great stuff my brother, you give joe shade tree, ESSENTIAL info to help them along!!!......

Ford man here but I still appreciate how utg always thinks of the home builder/working man gearhead

Hey Tony, I know you know but your explanations are so easy to understand & comprehend. If they would pay you enough, you would be a great teach in a engine classroom. Thanks again for the video!

I'm a Ford man but I appreciate gaining knowledge from someone who is clearly trustworthy. And I'm a fan of American muscle so thank you for sharing your wisdom.

My 318 poly came factory with adjustable rockers. No wonder it runs so good! 😃

What a clear vision you have young man! God Bless you!

I’ve battle this very issue for years on my built fords ….I usually don’t go crazy on an engine if I’m gonna retain the stock pedestal mount rockers. In the past When I did put a bigger than normal cam with stock heads I ran into that very issue! Adding stiffer springs helped but then ended up with valve train clatter after a hard hit…(lifters would bleed down from the stiffer springs) I’ve since gone with beehive springs on most of my performance builds which has helped tremendously! Using light weight valve train components while still retaining moderate spring pressures has work good for me!

Good video. I didn't know that factory rocker shafts hadn't worked that out, but I did know they didn't rev as high. On the other hand, I have only had valve train blow ups on ball stud type engines. I understood the two phenomena as a 'pick your poison' type of thing.

Great information Uncle Tony! Thanks for sharing the knowledge and keep it up!

nice explanation! You clearly have the skills! Keep the videos coming

That was probably the best, most understandable explanation I've heard on how all those dimensions work (or don't work) together in a valvetrain! Thanks so much Uncle Tony! 😃

I just rewatched this video for the second time, at least a year after it was first posted, and I’m telling you I’m impressed with the degree you’ve thought this through, this is really meaty tech at its finest. Anyone who watches it, and fore goes the new adjustable rocker arms for your bucks down method, will come away with a far better understanding of what they are dealing with.

Wow, this video really taught me some stuff. This goes inline with blueprinting. I'm saving this one.

I’ve spend my entire adult life in automotive machine shops doing this work in particular. If I sent a set of heads out and the valve stems lengths were not consistent, those heads would wind up right back in my lap. Do not let your machine shop get by with this kind of slop. If they don’t know how to keep the valve stems lengths consistent, go elsewhere that does. As for those brand new out of the box heads. Take them to the shop.

I used to be a heavy line tech for Lincoln/Mercury, Chrysler/Jeep/Eagle, Pontiac/Oldsmobile, & even Suzuki way back in the day 30 - 40 years ago - & I am learning so much from your videos. Very enjoyable - thx.

Awesome info, UT. Doing great on the solo recordo too. Thanks for sharing!

I just love your mind keep up the good info. With your help my 273 revs happy now.

Great video Tony, once again you show how all the little details add up and if overlooked, can have negative results.

I have Always just paid very close attention to installed spring height! Always used Mopar Purple cams and associated matched parts. Never a float issue! I have turned 383's to 8k with no issues!

A interesting video, tour car racing back in the 70 and 80 in Australia I can see the advantage of having factory support the only parts were mainly production parts per. rules. So boxs of valve , pushrod, pistons, conrods ECT. pick the longest, lightest, shortest must have been invaluable ! Christopher from Down Under

Good Video Tony. This is why I own about 4 sets of 273 adjustable rockers. I bought a record setting 360 crate engine years ago. It’s what that engine builder used. Can’t beat’em.

The fact that you use a Chrysler to illustrate your point, i feel is great. Not just because ive always been a mopar man. But because EVERYONE and there mother does everything with chev 350. Point is. Its Its something different to look at. Thank you Tony!

I gotta say. Tony .. I wish I was half as good as you at explaining and teaching . The service you are doing for the young.. lol.. 30 year olds and younger is absolutely awesome.. I have worn many hats in my life.. farmer, motorcycle guy, car guy, dad, cop , now a part time school cop ( at a tech center) .. the kids at the school watch your videos and are like little sponges. Many times on my own projects I have looked up what you have suggested and applied what you have taught.. many times you have covered topics that reminded me of how my elders handled something ( I’m 53 so you only have a few more years on me).. keep up the good work.. and… be glad you left NYS!!!

Good show tony I've got a 69 RR I've had since I was 14 I'm 51 now I love my mopars

Tony, sometimes you just make me so mad I would pull my hair out, that is if I had any hair to pull out. This stuff you went over today is old hat, old school stuff that I learned before you were out of diapers working on the Race Car that my Next-Door Neighbor had. I've told you about that in past comments. The Live Engine Builds are far more fun to watch and that's why I don't watch all of your Live streams. But I totally get it as to why you are using the platform to educate the younger guys like the JJ guys. I've had guys look at me like I'm totally Stupid when just by listening to their car running, when I diagnosed the problem and shown them with a can of carb cleaner that I was right. Or by moving the plug wires all one location advance shown them that they jumped timing when the timing chain slipped. Many Years and Many Stories. I hope you got something out of this too. See you tomorrow

Always gold with UTG!!!! M.O.P.A.R for me is Mostly Old Parts And Rust and I love them!

Great info. I will keep this in mind when I build a engine.

Uncle Tony: Enjoy your show very much, I'm a Ford Guy but I enjoy learning about the Mopars as well. Keep up the good work.

Tony you are very good at describing things. But knowing an engine aspirated under a vacuum sucking those valves downward there would be some slack I would think just in my own mind without the oil of course LOL

Excellent video! Love these deep dives.

I read on a Ford forum where a guy was also recommending barely more than zero lash for small block fords. I had bolt down "pedestal" rockers, and figured that it took 1/4-1/3 turn on the bolt to achieve 20 ft lbs, and during this phase no preload was being done. So, using shims under the pedestal, I could compensate for head milling, and my target was 20 ft lbs with less than 1/2 turn on the bolt from what you feel is 0 lash and torqueing the bolt to 20 ft lbs. I felt the freedom to do this because I didnt really "know" what I was "supposed" to do. It ran great.

My dad put a 350 SBC truck block in an old school bus/RV conversion (it originally came with a stovebolt 6). After long highway drives to Florida every winter, those press-in rocker studs became slide-out studs due to the endless resonant pounding at a fixed rpm (whatever equalled 60 mph). Every trip winter holiday, one would come loose and we'd buck our way to the nearest mechanic and they'd sell us another screw-in rocker stud. This made him a Mopar man for life!

For sure brother, we have the same mind about doing our best with the stuff we have at hand. Good work!

I am learning a lot watching your video Tony. Thank you very much!

all push rods need to be the same length = check lifters and cam lobes = if a push rod is shorter it is worn and some thing is also worn = rocker pivot lifter cam lobe = even hydraulic lifters - and this is why = over head cams were popular and have advanced so far . check push rods straight = roll them on a mirror and see .