Jubilee valve adjustment

Has anyone had any experience adjusting the valves cold on a '53 Jubilee. It says warm the engine up first. My problem is I have a MF loader MF100 installed-bought tractor 1 yr ago. The system blocks access to the valve cover. The only way to do it is take the gas tank off. Not a problem, but warming it up and then pulling the tank will leave me with a not warm engine. Does anyone know what they mean by a "warm engine"

Thanks

Gunner
Go to the end, some interesting notes.

i havn't seen your loader, but was able to take my valve cover off my 850 with a superior utility loader on. was slow going and required lots of finger manipulation but it did come off and out.

that said... no reason to have a cold engine after fuel tank removal.

if you want the extra room and toremove the fuel tank. remove it! then just use a temp line to run to the carb. easy to spoof that with rubber line and a stubby piece of brake line with a nut.

i do it that way if i have the tin off.

here's a pic of a lawnmower tank i used on my 4000 4 cyl

Do it cold. I don't like working on hot engines. Have seen specs that say to allow .002 more cold . I usually allow a .001. On a older engines there is usually a spot worn into the rocker arm and the valve or valve cap that the feeler gauge will not pick up. Stay on the tight side. Works for me.

imho.. i'd go on the loose side.

tight gets you burned valves.

like 16 thou is what i might aim for cold then recheck

Thanks. Now can anyone tell me why Ford goes thru an elaborate sequence of adjustment. I have worked 49-52 flat heads and the first OHV fords. I would bring it up to top dead center on 1 and adjust in and out. Continue on to the next.

Here's what scary. I brought the Jubilee up to TDC cold. Checked in and out. Both were at .010. I will go thru the sequence but it is rather arbitrary when they say when 1 ex and 3 in are open adjust 2 in and 4 ex. A lot of play when eyeballing rocker arms or push rods.

Comments would help. And haven't really decided which way to go. My problem is after 3/4 of century I don't move so fast- that's being kind. I do a dry run on anything new then go for it. A real long time has gone by from when I worked on on old engines. Bought this last year to replace an totaled Farmall.

Thanks
Gunner

Interesting. It appears by going thru the sequence the valves are adjusted for .014 clearance cold. Any thoughts?
Thanks
Gunner

Bit the bullet and ran it for 20 min and went thru the sequence. The engine obviously was work on at one time or two. All parts were numbered. Anyway it's done and whomever adjusted them last time had them tight. Backed three out to .014 and it seems okay. Triple checked each valve. Thanks for the help .

Couldn't sleep last night. Got up and got back into it. First a quick note on me. I went to school in the south, a hick school called Georgia Tech. They actual made me think, somewhat novel for me at the time.

So I was thinking about the cold/hot deal and something just did not seem right. I actually started to calculate the thermal expansion of the system. Been too long so I did it the easy way. This is the first run of two. Results were the same. Tests were 16 hours apart, a long day.

Sheet mental and gas tank have been removed. Removed all plugs, and top of distributor.

Then I brought #1 up to TDC, for this one you can actually check it on the flywheel, remove the rubber seal and watch for the marks. I had a yellow crayon type marker and marked the top of the piston. Marked the side of distributor for ref on position of rotor. I then adjusted both in and out to .017. .002 over the .015 gap.

Slowly turned crank, rotor turns clockwise. Brought #2 up marked the top of the piston so I watch it reach TDC. Adjusted in and out. The exhaust valve was a bear, kept moving when tightening the jam nut, I settled for .018+

Next brought #4 up to TDC, marked and adjusted.
finally brought #3 up to TDC, marked and adjusted.

Now the theory is that when doing this cold, add .002 so when the engine get to operating temp it will close to the required .015.

So I jury rigged the gas tank and fired it up. It ran for 20 minutes and was hot, shut it down, removed gas tank.

Brought #1 up to TDC. I really hope this doesn't PO anyone but... the .002 is the magic number, just in the wrong direction. Everyone of .017 adjustments were now .019. The .018" was .020+. I then readjusted all the valves to .015 hot.

Adding the .002 really wouldn't cause too much harm You really won't burn any valves out. The valve train may take a bigger hit over the long haul however. I did check the cold engine, the gap was .013. So it tracks.

If anyone else has the time, try it out and post it. I did this twice by the way. blew a whole day. But working over a hot engine is not fun, sort of like the wife slaving over a hot stove, get to appreciate that. Now I'll sleep better after adjusting the valves cold knowing I did my homework.

Gunner

Thanks for the details. Very helpful when I do my Jube.

...and GO JACKETS!