During my recent 70 GTO 400 cylinder head rebuild, I re-installed my rocker arms by torquing each locking nut to 20 ft-lbs and doing all 16 in a row without rotating the crank to get each cylinder at TDC before tightening the locking nut--per the original Service manual instructions (a repro Pontiac 2-volume manual). It runs fine, no excessive valve train noise that I can tell. My only worry came up later when I then saw a Chilton's manual that says to go through the process of moving each cylinder to TDC then torque the locking nuts to 20 while checking pushrods for binding--that's how I did it when I first rebuilt the motor. Does anyone know if the way I did it as first explained is safe for the engine or do I risk problems with uneven torque distribution across my rocker arms and do I need to go back and do the cylinder by cylinder method?
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