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How hard is the valve adjust really....

M

mcgyver74

Member
Member
So it is looking more and more like my job situation may be not so good right around the time I will be needing the 14k mile service (Will need it by Nov/Dec but will do in spring) so I likely will not be able to pay the stealer to do it.  Inotherwords, I will probably have to do it myself...

Now I've done some fairly grizzly work on cars.. (Timing belts, Cyl head swaps etc) and I've done timing belts and a cyl head swap on a 2v Ducati, but nothing like this.

I have Fred's videos, and I've watched them several times now, it doesn't LOOK too difficult, just tedious. 

So my questions are:

1) How easy is it to get the timing wrong and how far off does the engine need to be to bang a valve? (I've seen some cars where 1 tooth allegedly can bend a valve)
2) How much would a decent precision Micrometer cost me
3) Do most dealers have to order shims or do they have them in stock usually?  Also how expensive are they?
4) How easy is it to strip a bolt on the cam covers (After all, most of the rest of the fasteners are made of Fine Chocolate) and if that happens how bad is it?
5) After re-installing the Cams, and I turn the motor over by hand to feel if anything is out of whack, if I  feel something start to touch, is it ok to turn the motor the other way to line it up and re-adjust the timing, or do I need to pull the cams where they are and THEN re-turn the motor?? (Also, I assume if I turn by hand and feel no interference I won't bang a valve on start up if it's a tiny bit off)

Lastly,  with regards to the Cam Chain tensioner, It looks pretty straightforward,  but once I retract it to re-install,  how can I tell if it went back in properly and didn't push out too far when tightening it down (I remember reading someone who had the tensioner OVER tight and the chain snapped grenading the motor) 

I am pretty confident I can do it, but just want to make sure I cover ALL the bases

Thanks in advance
 
For what it's worth, I don't think you really need a micrometer. I checked all my shims with one, but they were all right on spec, and I could have just as easily skipped checking them. The Kaw shims seem to be pretty accurate. Though I guess it's not out of the realm of possibilities to get one that is stamped wrong, or one you can't read the stamp on.
 
A good set of calipers (dial or digital) should do the trick.  Can't say they are the greatest, but you can get them cheap from Harbor Freight ($10 to $20) http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=calipers.

I bought the 6" dial caliper from them, because I was tired of finding a dead battery in the digital ones whenever I needed them, and it's been very consistent and reliable (and no dead battery, ever).  Waiting for them to go on sale to buy another.


Another place to find micrometers are the used tool places, and pawn shops.  A good one will come with a small metal slug to measure the accuracy of the micrometer.
 
while calipers are a handy tool for other stuff, they do not fit the bill for the valve shims, and the job at hand.
you can get a very nice and accurate micrometer from McMaster-Carr for about $35, that will measure accuratly to .0001"

as for shim measurements, i highly reccomend doing it, you will see differences of up to .0002" in the same numbered shims, both up and down from the expected dimension.

i also re-iterate that while you are doing this job, PLEASE take the time to measure the head thickness' of each shim BUCKET, and record those on your chart, you will find many different dimensions here, often allowing an interchange of the bucket positions, further assisting in getting more diverse shim interchanges, reducing the number of replacements you may be needing to procure.
If you are taking the time to do the job, the additional time spent measuring all the parts, charting thier locations when complete, will be indespensible when you measure clearances and are doing the job next interval.....time spent in advance is given back in the future.

this chart shows clearly what I have said above....
 
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