I bought this 1976 Ironhead in September. Adjusted tappets as per Clymer book, but when I got it running, I hear all of them. Should I snug them down a little more? Thanks.

 

They make noise, even when adjusted correctly. As long as the piston was at TDC on the correct stroke and you adjusted them with spin but no up/down slop, they are right. Many of us adjust the exhaust tappets very slightly looser than the intakes.

 

Here are my notes on pushrod adjustment...

Ironhead Push Rod Adjustment

Do this procedure with the engine stone cold. I usually do it first thing in the morning. I do all of the prep and setup the night before so it is quick and easy in the morning.

1. Remove the spark plugs. Remove A/C to make room to work.

2. Using a flat blade screwdriver pry the spring keeper off of each push rod; the bottom of the keeper pops out first, then the top. Alternately, use a 3/4" open end wrench to push down on the top of the spring retainer, then pry out the spring keeper with the screwdriver.

3. The lower push rod covers may be stuck tight against the bottom o-rings, but they can be loosened by pinching between thumb and finger [or carefully using a shop rag and a pliers] and twisting or rotating. Lift these up and secure each with a tall-S-shaped piece of 12 or 14 gauge household wire [not cable] [or a long piece of Plumbers solder such as 95/5 hooked over the rocker cover and under the push rod cover.

4. Jack up back end of the bike so that rear wheel is off the ground, shift to 2nd gear, rotate wheel until it clicks, repeat until you get to 4th gear. Now by rotating the rear wheel you are rotating the engine. Almost impossible with the plugs in; very difficult in lower gears.

5. To adjust a particular push rod, its valve must be fully closed [the valve spring is relaxed]. Valve position for a particular cylinder is determined by observing the corresponding push rod of the other cylinder. For example, when the rear cylinder intake valve tappet is raised [valve fully open, spring compressed], the front cylinder intake valve is fully closed, and the front intake push rod can be adjusted.

6. Check [and adjust if necessary] the push rods:

[a] using the rear wheel rotate the engine so that the rear cylinder exhaust push rod tappet is fully raised. The front cylinder push rod is adjusted correctly if it has no vertical or horizontal play, and you can just rotate the push rod between thumb and forefinger with no trace of binding or dragging.

[b] to adjust if needed: hold the adjusting screw in place with a wrench; with another wrench loosen the split locknut. Then turn the adjusting screw using fingers only until the pushrod's ball end is seated in the tappet with a "slight amount of play". Then tighten further as follows:

Option 1: Adjust on the tighter end of the range: There should be no vertical or horizontal play, and you should be just able to rotate the push rod between thumb and forefinger with no trace of binding or dragging.

Option 2: Adjust on the looser end of the range: Set the adjusting screw to finger tight so that you cannot turn the push rod between forefinger and thumb. Undo it a tiny bit so that it is just barely loose. Then loosen it 1 "side" for an exhaust or 1/2 "side" for an intake. "Side" refers to one side of the 6-sided adjusting nut.

EDIT: Experience of forum members is that Option 2 is most likely the better choice.

[c] hold the adjusting screw in place with the one wrench; with the other wrench tighten the locknut.

[d] recheck the adjustment; it is common for the adjustment to go out as you do step [c], in which case [b] and [c] must be redone.

[e] repeat for the other push rods.

7. Use a flat blade screwdriver to push the upper push rod covers up, and seat them into the upper o-ring or cork washer.

8. Install the spring keepers, top end first, by prying them in under the bottom with a flat blade screwdriver.