T'bird 64

[greg.opole]

Please help i am thunderbirda owner from 1964. How to make valve adjustments ??

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[Dale Leonard]

Number one - why are you needing to adjust your valves?
Are they hydraulic or solid lifters?
If they are Hydraulic and they are tapping bad, there is a very simple easy fix. Go to Walmart and buy a quart of Marvel Mystery oil and pour it in yur crankcase with your oil. It will clean the lifters and make them pump up like they are supposed to and they will quieten back to normal and you will regain your lost power. I have done this many many times with success on the older engines.
If it is solid lifters you will have to go online to find out what the clearance should be and you then remove a valve cover and with wrenches and feeler gauges you adjust them with the engine running. this is messy but the best way to adjust them. I will bet that you have hydraulic lifters in your engine. After the engine returns to normal you should change your oil and install new filter and oil. Occasionally after that you should use a few ounces of oil to maintain a clean engine. Best trick I ever found for an old engine.
Dale in Fl.

 

[greg.opole]

Number one - why are you needing to adjust your valves?
Are they hydraulic or solid lifters?
If they are Hydraulic and they are tapping bad, there is a very simple easy fix. Go to Walmart and buy a quart of Marvel Mystery oil and pour it in yur crankcase with your oil. It will clean the lifters and make them pump up like they are supposed to and they will quieten back to normal and you will regain your lost power. I have done this many many times with success on the older engines.
If it is solid lifters you will have to go online to find out what the clearance should be and you then remove a valve cover and with wrenches and feeler gauges you adjust them with the engine running. this is messy but the best way to adjust them. I will bet that you have hydraulic lifters in your engine. After the engine returns to normal you should change your oil and install new filter and oil. Occasionally after that you should use a few ounces of oil to maintain a clean engine. Best trick I ever found for an old engine.
Dale in Fl.

I have pictures I can not figure out what kind of valves

 

[greg.opole]

Pictures

 

[Dale Leonard]

Those valves are non adjustable so they are hydraulic. Go ahead and put a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil in with your oil and run it for a couple of weeks and see if that helps solve your problem. If your lifters are noisy then they are not pumping up like they should. The more you drive it the better it will be. I had a friend that had a Torino with a 289 in it and he was fixing to change the motor due to noisy lifters and low power. I had him do this and he never changed the motor as his power came back and his noise went away.

 

[Dale Leonard]

Also you need new valve cover gaskets on that 390 really bad.

 

[greg.opole]

Those valves are non adjustable so they are hydraulic. Go ahead and put a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil in with your oil and run it for a couple of weeks and see if that helps solve your problem. If your lifters are noisy then they are not pumping up like they should. The more you drive it the better it will be. I had a friend that had a Torino with a 289 in it and he was fixing to change the motor due to noisy lifters and low power. I had him do this and he never changed the motor as his power came back and his noise went away.

Thanks for trying this solution and let me know, please give me an ebay link to this quart of Marvel Mystery Oil and how much I have to buy it. I am from Europe and have to buy through ebay. Thank you for your help

 

[Dale Leonard]

I do not have a link but you shoud be able to buy Marvel Mystery Oil in Europe. I did a google search on where to buy in Europe and it was like 9.95 Euro a quart. I could not read the language but you should be able to buy it locally. Some people say that you can use automatic transmisson fluid but it does not have the same chemical makeup and does not work as good. Wish I could be more help to you but am limited due to distance. If you have a walmart store or go to your local parts store and inquire as to where to buy it. Sorry I can not be of more help.
Dale

 

[Dale Leonard]

Put one quart in your oil and run it for about a month and then change your oil. That should be sufficent time to clean your engine. You have to run the engine for it to do it's job.

 

[greg.opole]

Put one quart in your oil and run it for about a month and then change your oil. That should be sufficent time to clean your engine. You have to run the engine for it to do it's job.

Hello, I found in Poland. I have one more question what would you recommend engine oil because I will exchange and some good gear oil 🙂 🙂. Again, I want to thank you for your quick and helpful reply

 

[Dale Leonard]

On these older engines I woild stay with a standard High dertergate 30 weight motor oil. I feel that the older engines just don't do as well with these newer multi weight oils. The older engines tend to run at cooler temperatures and just do not benifit from using them. Use any good quality oil and you will be OK. I really hope that the Marvel Mystery Oil helps solve your problem. Also if you are having to use gasoline like we have in the US you need to put 3 to 4 ounces of the Marvel Mystery Oil in your gas tank when you fill up the car. This lubricates the valves and helps to keep the carburetor clean. Just an after thought.
Dale

 

[Thunderswede]

Wynn has something called oil system cleaner. What do you think about that? We doft have Marvel Mystery in Sweden

 

[Akflyer]

Wynn has something called oil system cleaner. What do you think about that? We doft have Marvel Mystery in Sweden

Another product that works well is Rislone Engine Treatment. It has rave reviews and a lot of people recommend it. I have tried it on my 66 that sat for 26 years. You could not talk over the lifter clatter. I have not driven the car, but after 2 hours of idle the noise is down to 2 slight lifter ticks. If you don't have the products mentioned, perhaps you can do a Google search for Lifter noise or Tappet noise and find something mentioned that you do have in your area.