Yea, they have some variation, your valves would have to be overly too tight or loose in order to have it wrong. Like Jim said remember to have the car cold, maybe let it sit over night, because when the car warms up, the valves get tighter, so remember that. It is better to have the valves a LITTLE on the loose side than too tight, thats how you burn a valve etc. A little loose they might tick a little, but if it is valve tapping than they are too loose. As for the feel of resistance, once you do your first valve adjustment you will kind of develop a feel for how the feeler gauge should slide..... good luck and let us know how it goes. P.s. I know that it recommends the valves be adjusted a lot earlier, but do you have any symptons like valve tapping etc? Cause I have seen some hondas which were driven easy and had 100K miles w/no valve symptoms.....