Originally Posted by
airraptor
For valve clearance I always set mine up at zero when the engine is cold. If the rocker arm can move side to side should be good. When the engine warms up, the clearance opens up.
I set mine per manufactures recommendation at .004 thousands of an inch. I use a feeler gauge I bought on line - but they might be available at autozone or one of the auto parts places. Autozone, O'Reillys may even loan you one, they aren't expensive if you decide to buy one. My .004 feeler gauge is stainless steel but still so thin you can almost read a newspaper through it. The manufacturer provides a range that is acceptable but I have always used .004 on all my 4 strokes seems right. I bought a Golden Knight 82a because the valve lifter clearance was not enough and it leaked compression. I got a great deal on it and once I found the issue and adjusted the valves it ran/runs great. .