Valve Adjustment regarding BIG CAMS

[EricJB]

Condensation on oil cap could be from inadequate crankcase ventilation.  

[metalmonkey47]

So i didn't see anything in the cap after that. Whew I was getting nervous...

 

Anyways, I think for the time being I'm going to run to Summit Racing after work tomorrow and pick up a compression tester to find out where the compression leak is. 

Meanwhile, i'm gonna run to Nissan and get a new t-stat, since the crappy autozone one decided it no longer wants to warm up my motor. Doesn't get past the second notch, or 130 degrees after a drive. Shit. New radiator is coming on Wednesday, and I need to figure out something for the leaking heater valve. 

[metalmonkey47]

Also, regarding a leak down test, does this need to be done on a warm motor? 

[ggzilla]

No

[datsunwizard]

Since I was quoted by the OP in the first post, I thought that I would comment on this. Looking at the Op's picture, the person that did the valve grind does't have a clue when it comes to the L-series geometry.  The different spaces of the  pivot points to the lock nuts in the Op's picture shows that something is not right, the spaces should be fairly consistent across the board. It appears that the valve stem height is all over the place (on the assumption that the valves are adjusted correctly). The valve stem height (the height from the tip of the valve stem to the bottom surface that the spring rests on) must be equal on all valves to assure that the same thickness of lash pads can be used on all valves. If the measurement is not the same, then a different thickness of lash pad will be required on each valve to center the  wipe pattern. The correct way to accomplish this is to replace either the valve seat and/or the valve if the valve stem height is too high (the valve is sunken too far into the head). Don't, I repeat, don't allow them to grind the valve stem tip to equal the heights.  A lot of machinists that aren't familiar with the L-series geometry will just grind the seat or valve until the worn spots are taken of with any regard for the stem height, because they assume that the difference in height can be adjusted out at the pivot points, buy they fail to realize the wipe patten has shifted by all they're grinding. Setting up an L-series head correctly is a very time consuming job.

[EricJB]

When I put mine together they looked that way too. I had to use two different lash pads, because the intake and exhaust valves were different lengths. The head had new seats installed at the same height, and ground carefully to the same specs. That might be what we are seeing.