Is it as easy to do as an A series engine, or are the valves hiding behind loads of other stuff?

Hydraulic lifters... So why?

gr J

We're talking about the 8 valve FIRE engine here, aren't we? If so then the tappets are solid with removable shims for adjustment. Very unusual to find they need adjustment until very high mileages are covered. Not so sure about the 16 valve engines, think they are hydraulic self adjusting? Anyway, whatever, nothing to do. My advice would be unless they are noisy - tapping away like little men with hammers - just forget about them. Don't worry if they tap for a couple of seconds if the car hasn't been run for a wee while, it's just the oil taking a wee while to pump up from the bottom of the engine.

PS. Absolutely nothing like the old BMC "A" series engine to do. This is an overhead cam for a start, no push rods and rockers. If you've never done shim type tappets before you'll find it quite difficult first time you try, plus you'll need a selection of different thickness shims. Look at this starting at about 10 minutes into the video for what's involved: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrhfJOp6l5s I just love that the guy's doing this in his kitchen!

You can probably quite safely say ‘don’t bother’

I had mine checked by the dealer recently at 37000 miles and 6 years as required in the service schedule. They did not require any adjustment. Half hours labour cost. You pays your money... I prefer to follow the service recommendations but don't disagree with the majority view that if they are not rattling you can probably leave well alone as disturbing the cam cover seal could cause leaks. None evident on mine so far.

There's no lifters on these engines. The FIRE has an over head camshaft so there is no need to lift the cam action from below.

The cam is driven directly from the crank via the timing belt and is postioned above the valvetrain. The cam lobes operate the valves downwards against shims in solid bucket type tappets.

You can see the arrangement here in a earlier video to the one above.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46Iia_10lEc

There's a certain amount of "hydraulic" action as oil is pumped up to the valvetrain to lubricate and reduce the metal to metal hammering effect from the cam on the shim, bucket and the upper spring cup.

You can often hear a little valve tick when the engine is cold, it's quite normal until the oil warms up. It often improves after an oil change.

The clearances aren't hard to check, the values are knocking around somewhere (methinks 0.3mm inlet and 0.4mm exhaust).
Adjusting them is done by replacing the shim with a different thickness one.
You need a tool to lever the bucket/valve down to remove and refit the shim.

As others have written, I wouldn't both unless it's still really noisy warmed up on clean oil.