I just bought my first project XJ. I knew it needed engine work and during the tear down found the head gasket was blown and the head was in pretty bad shape. I bought a NEW 0331 head from Clearwater Cylinder Heads. While finishing up the reassembly I realized the pushrods seem to be too long. The rocker bolts are not seating down to the head and any attempts to tighten the bolts compresses (opens) all of the valves. Knowing the 4.0L has non-adjustable rockers / hydraulic lifters leaves me scratching my head. What could be wrong? Are there multiple versions of the 0331 casting? I used a caliper and measured my pushrods and they are currently stock pushrods. Thanks for any help!

 

Are the lifters pumped up ? you know full of oil , because if they are when you first tighten down the rockers it will open the valves but then it will bleed down the lifters , that does take some time .

 

Yep - I think I was over thinking it. I've never worked on a motor where the valve assembly was non-adjustable. I went ahead and torqued them all down, let it rest a bit, turned it over a few times, and everything was fine. I fired it up last night for the first time and it ran great. Thanks!