So I decide its time to check for valve clearance. Each was a little tight. Very good. Got them dead on. Then I look at the no. 3 ex push rod tube thats been leaking and realize that I can get this one out pretty easy. Out it comes, in go the new o rings and back in it goes. I replace the rocker arms and recheck the clearances expecting them to be a little off but they were very tight. Could taking off the rocker arms and replacing them change the clearances that much? I had to unscrew the adjuster at least one ful turn.

The pushrods aren't seated. The valve adjustment wouldn't change IF you put the pushrods back in their respective holes.

The Cap'n

Sounds like your #3 push rod was not seated correctly. Pull it back out and reinsert it with the interior tip raised upward as far as it will go and feel it seat into the lifter pocket. Take the rocker arm and place the exterior push tip in the rocker pivot and hold it in place while you hand tighten the adjusting screw enough to hold all in place and then adjust to spec. and then readjust all cylinders again-n-again-n-again until you fill confident that thay are all in spec.

Both the 3 intake & exhaust were tight. After I loosened them and reset them at 8 & 6 respectivly the pushrods seemed to rotate very smothly. I'll take it apart again and make sure the rods are seated. Thanks for the input.

There is one other reason the valve clearances change just by removing and replacing the rockers. See anything wrong with the picture below? Seems the mechanic ( ) let the end collet slip off as he was removing the assembly, flipped it over somehow and put it back on backwards. That'll do it. Good thing there are some actual mechanics on this site that will get you to stop and think.

Click to view attachment