Thanks danhr, that totally clarifies it, It was what the "target" of the pedestal bolt turns after zero lash I was unsure of and now understand it is the torque setting. I think while I have things opened up still and before ordering pushrods, I can use one method to verify the other. Just some added insurance that I did it right so I only have to do it once.
Would anyone happen to know what the actual preload is on the stock LS3 setup, I know what the specs say (0.060) but I would be interested to know if anyone has actually measured what theirs was from the factory. I should have thought to do that before taking the stock cam out. My stock pushrods have measured to 7.375 (exactly 11.5 turns on the comp cam pushrod checker) and the stock camshaft that has a 0.035 larger intake base circle and 0.055 larger exhaust base circle give or take 1/1000th on each (I measured multiple times with a digitial caliper) I mention this because if I go with a 7.350 pushrod I'll be at 0.050 preload and at 0.075 with a 7.375 (ironically the stock length) keeping in mind I have measured my pushrod length to be 7.300 at zero lash on the new cam. I mention this only because the measurements tell me that after factoring in the larger base circle measurements in the stock setup and with the 7.375 pushrods it would represent and additional 0.035 and 0.055 preload on the intake/exhaust respectively, putting intake at 0.110 preload and exhaust at 0.130 (more than double the 0.060 spec) with the stock cam and pushrods. Is that much preload from the factory likely?
I know my attempt at reverse-engineering this is probably annoying for some to read but the math doesn't seem to lie. Unfortunately my factory preload is the unknown here other than what the math dictates and there is no way I am so anal that I'll be putting the stock cam back in to confirm or deny things. Painful how I try to think this stuff through but hopefully it will help keep my mind sharp later in life when I am slobbering all over myself waiting for someone to change my diaper (
this silly attempt to get a chuckle was in no way written to harm or cause undue stress to anyone who is actually slobbering all over themselves and waiting on a diaper change)
