: ok i have a 1965 dodge dart wagon with a 225
: slant six in it. it runs a little rough, i
: have checked the carb, timing seemed to help
: a little bit, anything else could be causing
: this? do i need to adjust the valves? the
: car was sitting for about 3-4 years and has
: recently come back to life. thanks. It is
: rough at idle but when it speeds up it
: smoothes out.

: Adjusting the valves is a very good idea,
: especially if it mainly runs rough at idle.
:
: Cheers,
:
: Lou

: cool, thanks. I haven't had to adjust the
: valves before how do i go about doing that?

: ok i have a 1965 dodge dart wagon with a 225
: slant six in it. it runs a little rough, i
: have checked the carb, timing seemed to help
: a little bit, anything else could be causing
: this? do i need to adjust the valves? the
: car was sitting for about 3-4 years and has
: recently come back to life. thanks. It is
: rough at idle but when it speeds up it
: smoothes out.

: I really need to post a nice article on how to
: adjust the valves on a SL6, it makes the
: engine run so much better when the
: "lash" is set correctly and it is
: becomming a "lost art" in todays
: "repair by swapping parts" auto
: service world.
:
: I pulled this up from below: ...Now that we can
: tell the "Solids" (adjustable
: rockers) from the Hydraulics and seeing most
: SL6 engines are the "adjustable"
: type (solid lifters) how should you adjust
: these?? Here are some tips: The engine must
: be hot.
:
: Once valve cover is off, I check the torque on
: the head bolts, if they don't move
: ("crack") by 75 ft.lbs, go to the
: next, follow the "center-outward"
: sequence. Also check to see if all the
: rocker arms are oiling out the center and
: tip holes. If not, now is the time to change
: them.
:
: I do my adjustment with the engine running, so
: turn the idle down as low as possible and
: put some cardboard under the car. (if you
: want your floor to stay clean!)
:
: I start with the intakes, stock cams adjust at
: .010, watch for the TWO INTAKES side by side
: in the center of the row (Cylinders 3&4) use
: the manifolds as your guide.
:
: Come back around for the exhaust valves, they
: should be plenty hot by now,(remember, the
: engine is running and you are
: "feeling" the clearance between
: the "hits", if unsure, stop the
: engine for a moment and recheck to help
: establish your "feel"
:
: The exhaust is set at .020 but shoot for looser
: to start. (.021 - .022) Find a setting where
: the idle is smooth but the lifters are
: mostly quite, yes "mostly" quite,
: they should make a small bit of ticking
: noise when correct. When you have things set
: right, each cylinder should "miss"
: slightly when you insert the "feeler
: gauge", this "hangs" the
: valve open, causing the minor miss.
:
: If you want to try to "sneek-into" a
: minor bit of performance increase, try
: setting the intake valves a bit tighter,
: .008 instead of the .010
: If the engine starts running rougher at idle,
: Go Back To .010, if the idle stays
: smooth,....how about @ .007? This puts a
: small bit more duration on the intake valve
: event, this also works in
: "consept" with the exhaust but
: there is way more "risk" of a
: "choppy idle" and burned exhaust
: valves, so .020, may-be .019 (HOT) is about
: as tight as I would go. Bottomline, these
: lash settings have some "leeway",
: a little tighter or looser is OK, as long as
: a smooth idle is maintained.
:
: That's it, Button it up and go for a drive.
: DD

: I also adjust my valves hot and running but
: without a feeler gage. Back in the early
: 70's when my father was alive he showed me
: how to ajust valves with a long wood handled
: screwdriver, the kind where the steel runs
: all the way through the handle.Set the idle
: as low as possible hold the ajusting wrench
: with one handand hold the screwdriver to the
: rockerarm close to the center ( less
: movement there), put the handle to your ear.
: You will hear TAP TAP, tighten alittle. tap
: tap, tighten a little, tic tic, tighten a
: little and you will probably start to hear
: "shlunk" "shlunk" You
: are now at 0 clearance,too tight back off to
: "tic" "tic" do all 12
: rockers this way and your done. I would do
: this when ever I do a tuneup and the /6 I
: built 10 years ago,torn down showed no vave
: burn. just my 2 cents Bruce