Ian,
Thanks for posting! It's been a while since I've messed around with setting up the side play on the rockers. I don't remember what it was. BUT... I did a little searching for you and I asked a couple of buddies and came up with this:
To set up the solid rocker shafts you'll need to use a combination of the .015"/.030"/.060" shims that come with the solid rocker arm set and some stock .040" washers until each exhaust valve rocker has .004-.006" sideplay when checked with feeler gauge, and the shared sideplay of the intakes is .006"-.012".
With new parts try to stay to toward the tighter side of these numbers, since they will wear and loosen a bit. Do this with the pushrods removed. (It's a lot easier) Also note that there is enough slop in the rocker arm studholes to allow this to change any time you take the rockers off, so you'll need to snug the nuts down and tap the shaft on the ends until the exhaust sideplay is right before you torque the nuts for the final time. Make sure that the rocker shims (if needed) don't hang out the side and rub against the rockers.
Pay particular attention to how the adjusters contact the valvestems slightly off center - be sure to maintain this relationship as it allows for valve rotation.
Hope this helps!
Scott Faivre
