Hughes Engines 1.6 Rocker Geometry/Setup

RustyRatRod said
I've never understood why anyone would argue over getting something "right". Sure, these engines ran fifty plus years with the rocker shafts not in the optimized location, but if you're building one from the ground up, there's no reason not to make everything as right as it can be. You cannot argue what correct positioning of the rocker shaft and corrected geometry does for valve guide and stem wear, plus the reduction of friction can actually add up to some power gains......however small. It all adds up. There's just no reason not to get it dead right and it has nothing to do with being a guru, but more about being smart. I mean, it's not like it costs thousands of dollars to do.

Rat Bastid said
Don’t count on luck. Just because something runs doesn’t make it right.

To correct the geometry the shaft needs to move up and away from the valve. Those flat shims don’t do that. They raise the shaft which actually makes it closer to the valve.

Gotta agree with you guys here. You can stab your cam in dot to dot and the engine will run with the cam timing a few degrees out, but you take the time to degree the cam and get it right. An engine will still run when its out of ballance - but you pay someone to ballance the rotating assembly and get it right. The correction kit is about $200 if I remember correctly - small change to prolongue the life of your valvetrain components, regain some of the lift lost through the valvetrain and ensure its rock solid when you beat on it. Plus if someone is going out of their way to provide this kind of service, it's good to support that.
To the OP - the rocker sweep looked "OK" with no correction on these heads and rockers but check how far the shaft centreline needed to move to get it "right".