Civic Valves - Normal Pre-Adjustment Spec?

I just adjusted the valves in my 88 Civic. I found that they were all about
2-3 thou UNDER spec. EG .004 to .006 on intake, .006 to .008 on exhaust.
Is this normal - for the valves to get 'tighter' as they wear in? So, I set
intakes to .008 and exhaust to .011 and started her up. Sounds a little
clakkety at startup, but then gets quiet as it warms up. Seems peppier too,
but then I also found spark plugs were way overgapped, and fixed that, and
took some crud off rotor and distributor cap contacts too, so could have had
weak sparks.

Do you wrenchers out there find valves usually tighten up? Also, are your
valves dead quiet even cold after a good valve adjustment?

Frank

 

In my experience, the intakes usually get a little loose and the exhaust
usually get a little tight, but anything can happen. There are some people
who have even claimed that their engines went 200,000 miles and never needed
any adjustment.... maybe they got tight and the loose again ;-).
As far as noise... any car with adjustable valve lash will be a little
noisy... but I would think it should be quiet enough that you don't notice
it when warmed up at idle.