How much grab is ok when doing valve adjustment?

[shojuan]

I'm starting the replacement of my valve shims and I started out measuring .008" with a 2500 shim so I replaced it with a 2550 shim to tighten it up to .006" Now I can slide .006, .007, .008, .009, .010 gauges under the cam lobe. How much drag is acceptable between the feeler gauge and the lobe? Absolutely none? A slight drag? As much drag as long as the gauge slides in and out easily? With shim surface oiled it seems plenty of gauges slide right in now. I want as much lift as possible but I don't want to burn a valve. Doesn't everybody?

Rick

<small>[ September 03, 2002, 02:25 PM: Message edited by: shojuan ]</small>

 

[SHOnuff93]

the feeler guage should slide in with a slight drag, and be sure the cam lobe is perpendicular to the shim. good luck

 

[shojuan]

Thanks Tyler!

That first one seemed a little funkier then the rest. As I do more the experience builds quickly. It seems that as a rule I'm increasing the thickness by .050mm with each valve. One exhaust I increased by .075mm. Want to get the most lift allowed woohoo!

For some reason I'm having a blast doing these valves. Nice and relaxing. It seems to help that I cracked open a couple brews. That and I get to use my nifty PVC pipe engine hood prop rod as a cheater bar on my ratchet wrench to rotate the engine nice and easy (the hood has been off the whole 60K, so my nifty multi-purpose PVC pipe is available for cheater bar duties). Nobody mock my PVC pipe yo! OK, OK, I better hold off on the brews for a while lest I get some crazy idea to tempt fate and increase lift by another .025mm!

Rick

 

[shojuan]

Oh yeah, on that first valve where I pulled a 2.500 shim and had measured the same gap as the adjacent valve, I ended up using a 2.600 replacement where the adjacent valve got a .050mm thicker replacement. Maybe that 2.500 shim was mismarked? I'll go back and check those two again after I'm all done.

Rick

 

[sdpatt]

When using feeler gauges, the official gap is the thickness of the largest gauge that will fit in the gap without any friction. If there is contact on both surfaces, the gap is obviously less than the thickness of the gauge. The thickest gauge that will fit is the measure of the gap. Since you don't have infinitely small increments of the gauges, you can see the approximate nature of the feeler gauge method. Whatever shim was installed, the final determination of the proper shim thickness is the one that allows the remeasure of the gap to be at the desired value.

Be careful by installing too thick a shim. If you completely eliminate the gap after the engine heats, the valves will not be allowed to seat completely because of contact with the heel of the cam lobe. This will create erosion on the valve seat and the need for a real valve job with removal of the heads and regrinding of the seats.

 

[Alan]

Rick
what tools are you using to do the valve gapping? Where did you get them?
thanks

 

[shojuan]

Alan:
Rick
what tools are you using to do the valve gapping? Where did you get them?
thanks

I used a KD Tools EZ Grip Valve Tappet Gauge Set from The Tool Warehouse (www.thetoolwarehouse.net
). Part number KAS3085. Any chain or local car parts store (Autozone, NAPA, Kragen/Checker) should have an offset feeler gauge set for a couple of dollars that will work just fine. There's nothing special about the KD Tools version.

For the tappet compressor and tappet holder I got a set from SP Motorsports that was made by and shipped from the SHO Shop. The SHO Shop took the factory OTC tools and had them copied in mild steel. Joe Scott at SP Motorsports gave me some song and dance about how OTC had stopped making the tools and he could no longer get them and nobody had returned his rentals for a long time. The quality of the mild steel copies is good enough to perform a valve service or two or three. Maybe more if you grind and polish the rough edges that form with a dremel in between 60K services. If the SP Motorsports rumor is a lie and you can get the real thing from OTC (maybe OTC won't sell to SP Motorsports and SHO Shop anymore?) then my advice would be to spend the $40 or $50 from OTC to get the real factory tools. I think I spent about $36 for my mild steel copies (I didn't know I could buy direct from OTC at the time). Check www.shotimes.com for the OTC phone number and tell them that you are a Ford owner wanting the tools.

I will probably try to cast copies of my valve adjusting tools in brass down the road unless I spring for some OTC tools first. Either way, the SHO Shop mild steel copies did their job for this 60K.

So in summary I used for the valve gapping: offset feeler gauges from www.thetoolwarehouse.net
, tappet holder and compressor (low quality versions) from SHO Shop via SP Motorsports, a small flat blade screwdrive to pry the shims loose, and a 1.5 lb magnet tipped telescoping pickup/retreival tool (should be able to get for a couple bucks at most auto parts stores. I got from www.thetoolwarehouse.net because I was already there for some other tools) for pulling the shims out of their buckets after prying loose.

Very easy job. Tedious and time consuming, yes. But for some reason it was the most enjoyable tedius job I've ever done. wink

Rick

 

[LaTechSHO]

o'reilly can special order the tools from otc as well if you are interested...... OTC still makes them for sure.... got mine not too long ago

Louis

 

[shojuan]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr! I wonder what that song and dance SP Motorsports gave me was about? The SHO Shop tools got the job done but the quality was much lower than what you'd expect from harbor freight at 1/3 the cost! Mild Steel. Sheesh.

Rick