Valve clearance / Shims less than 0,060

[marode]

I want to set the valve clearances for my +2S and found out, that the following shims are needed for correct clearances.

0,87mm (0,034'')
0,96mm (0,037'')
1,02mm (0,040'')
1,49mm (0,059'')
1,75mm (0,069'')
1,80mm (0,071'')
1,86mm (0,073'')
1,88mm (0,074'')

Well... shims less than 0,060 seem to be not available, but inspite I have taken out a 0.040 shim of the head. So, either someone has flattened the shims or those may be available somewhere. Now I?ve read about some trouble with broken 0.060 shims here. Any suggestions what to do? Shorten the valves? I don?t intend to take out the head this time (if possible), just wanted to set correct clearances.

[andyhodg]

Hi There

I had that problem when I first rebuilt the cylinder head on my +2. I ended up fitting the light weight steel buckets available from QED. These have a thinner pad than the standard cast steel items which allows you to fit thicker shims. I can measure the pad thickness of these steel buckets if you would like.

See http://qedmotorsport.co.uk/qed-shop/lot ... -followers

I hope that is of some help.

Regards

Andy

[marode]

Hi Andy!

Do you mean those?

http://qedmotorsport.co.uk/qed-shop/lot ... l-thin-pad

cheers
Matthias

[rgh0]

Yes shims less than around 60 thou are not advisable as they can fracture

Yes you can use the thinner steel buckets to get thicker shims but you just need to ensure that with the reduced pad height inside the buckets and the shim thickness that you end up with that the shim contacts the bucket pad and its not the spring retaininer top hitting the bucket and trying to open the valve.

regards
Rohan

[leifanten]

I also used the QED racing buckets for the same reason. Do not use thinner shims, as they may break (your heart) when you hear them rattling around and causing all kinds of interesting damage to your head (and cylinder head)

[zuckerlowe]

I had the same problem when I had new seats fitted to the head, If you are not too far out you can skim the underside of the buckets, as there is a small step inside. I think I needed 25 thou off and it's been fine ever since.

Cheers
Steve

[marode]

Thanks to Leifantens perspicuous illustration I decided to avoid the use of thinner shims. I measured the tappets, they are 0.219'' at the inside. How thin are you Andy?

[andyhodg]

Hi
Yes I use the steel thin pad followers which are 0.160 " thick (according to the QED web site). As Rohan suggests make sure the shims are proud of the spring retainers.

Regards Andy

[Dag-Henning]

If you insist on leaving the head on , you can also consider changing your cams for units with a slightly smaller base circle......This is maybe a good opportunity to get the extra power you have always wanted..... ( - unless you already have cams reground a dozed times...... )
What you discribe is not unusual if your seats have been cut too much, so maybe your head would do well with an overhaul....? I would go for the cam-swap - or a cam regrind if possible....!
Dag

[marode]

I simply insist on getting the car back on the road soon. I just bought it and wanted to fix some bits and bobs, endet up with new shocks all arround, complete brake caliper overhaul incl. new bolts (and re-bushed) handbrake mechanism, 3 new bearings at the diff, wheel overhaul, new tires, carb overhaul,...

Compression of the engine is not the best, all at about 10.5, guess there is also some work to spend at the bottom end. I have found a bill for 4 new +060'' pistons from 1990 ... well that tells something.

I will order 4 thinner tappets to get rid of the "less than 0.60 shims" and then put the hole boiling together again. This may not be the most professional way, but hopefully works for some time. I?ve got to decide wether I want to keep the car for longer, I simply have too much work on british stuff, there is also an Esprit S2 demanding my attention.

[qedmotorsport]

Just to echo what's already been said, that's our official line. Shims less than 0.060" are not advisable which is why we have the thin pad followers

For completeness sake, std followers are around 0.218-0.220", our thin pad followers are, as mentioned, 0.160".

[SENC]

Resurrecting an old thread rather than starting anew.

One winter project was checking and resetting valve clearances, and in doing it found essentially no clearance on #4 exhaust (others were out slightly). Most shims were in the 94 to 103 range. Ordered a set down to the low 80s and got all but #4 exhaust set to spec, but still no clearance on 4e. Ordered more down to .61 as well as a top hat 75 just to make sure I didn't have something catching, but neither the top hat shim nor smallest biscuit shim are giving me any clearance on #4e.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

[SENC]

Bumping this to see if anyone has any guidance. I'm suspecting head-off to investigate the valve and seating, but before going down that road want to make sure I'm not overlooking something simple that you may have experienced.

[promotor]

Bumping this to see if anyone has any guidance. I'm suspecting head-off to investigate the valve and seating, but before going down that road want to make sure I'm not overlooking something simple that you may have experienced.

Have you compared how the retainers look in relation to their respective collets / valve tips, and then compared the problem valve with other valve tips and collets / retainers? Just wondering if the retainer has stretched allowing the valve and collets to sit further through and therefore the retainers sits higher on the valve and closer to the cam centre line. The shim could be sitting on the retainer recess bottom in this instance and not giving you any clearance? If that's happening I would expect that you would be close to dropping a valve.

[SENC]

Thanks Alistair - hope to have a little time to dig deeper tomorrow.