Feeler Gauge and other technique for measuring hydraulic lifter clearance

Posted by JeromeSolberg On 2023/6/3 22:45:02

Hi Folks,

I'm trying to measure the clearance for the hydraulic lifters in a 1953 327 using the special gage from Pacific Northwest Packards (also available from MM, or by taking the lifter apart).

The clearance is supposed to be between 0.030" and 0.070".

I have 3 questions:

a) Assuming I measure these all correctly and take some/all of the valve stems to be ground down, what would be the best clearance to aim at? 0.050"

b) What's a good way to hold the valves down while I am doing this? I tried putting a bottle of brake fluid on top of the valves, but maybe there is a better way. Ideally, of course, one would have a "helper". No such luck, there.

c) The thickest feeler gauge I have found goes up to 0.035". I can "stack" them up thicker than that, but that's not a very accurate process, especially as I try to get up to 0.050". Is there some feeler gauge set I don't know about available, or is there some technique I am not aware of?

Thanks in advance!