380SE '84 head rebuild
 

I am rebuilding the heads on the 116 motor. How do you set the valve clearance, can it be done with basic tools in a well equiped workshop? Is it possible to bleed the existing hydraulic lifters down and do the adjustments while the heads are on the bench?

Thanks,
gdeven

No...

With hydraulic lifters one does not set the clearance. One does set the amount of compression of the installed lifters though (if, one has changed that demension by grinding either the valve or the seat).

If you imagine the lifter as a shock absorber, the concept is to have the normal working position be somewhere in a band at the center of movement. The proper tool for measuring this required collapsed position is a device that measures the height of the ball stud from the head surface through the hole in the installed rocker arm. Without a rocker arm the ball stud protrudes to its maximum extention. When the rocker arm is installed on a lifter without oil in it, the lifter collapses to the point it keeps everything tight (no clearance) the amount it is depressed is what you are looking for; the tool measures it directly.

380SE head rebuild
 

Thanks Steve,
I have had the valve seats re-ground and new guides, seals etc. so now need to have the ends of the valve stems ground to the specs before I took off the valves. Is there any wiggle room here, or does the hydraulic lifter accomodate some variation either way? I mean, is there any risk of the valves not seating at all from a minimal valve seat re-grind? In any case, looks like I have to find myself this hydraulic lifter adjustment tool, whatever its called. Thanks, gdeven.

The first, conservative valve job will probably not need any shimming, IF one has all the shims marked to go back on the same valves or if by some miracle they are all the same size.

380SE head rebuild
 

Thanks Steve. The shims of course, were not all the same, however, as the exhaust valve seats were only just touched with the grindstone, I used them as a reference for a straight edge across the rockers. The inlet valves had new guides and a good grind on the seats, so I was able to get a variety of shims to bring all the rockers up to the same height. It is now all together and after a new valve seals, timing chain, tensioner, shoes etc. it runs beautifully!

gdeven.