So I took advantage of the awesome deal Randy offers for the shim kit and adjusted the valves on the FJ. I figured this was probably documented to death but I went ahead and took a bunch of pics anyway. Bike and work area ready. I use the stainless tray for carb work, and planned to pull them off for related maintenance.
Shim kit, as delivered. 95 shims, tool, magnets, instructions. The caliper is mine. Ended up ignoring it and using a micrometer. A starett or mitutoyo the harbor freight caliper is not.
Torn down and cleaned up. I used compressed air to ensure no crap fell into the openings. Carbs were pulled to verify cleanliness and make sure the boots were still ok. I replaced the o-rings between them and the head when I rebuilt the carbs, but was still having an occasional high idle when hot.
Valve cover pulled off, all valves checked. Couple tight, couple loose. Shown is the #1 intake, which were at .003 and .004. Tool installed, and bucket held down. Note on the tool it has to be pushed in firmly when tightening to make sure it engages the buckets.
The buckets have a slot to stick a prybar/screwdriver into to pop the shim out. The slot isn't always in the correct spot, so don't be afraid to use a pick to rotate the bucket to a more advantageous position. I ended up using a combination of a very small scwdriver and a dental pick to pop the shims out.
There are also dire warnings about not crapping up the tool. To that end I was extraordinarily careful to watch the cam lobes while I turned the motor over. Enough so that I managed to mash my finger in the rotor pretty badly. Nothing to do but pick up the wrench and turn the motor backwards to free my finger. So given the choice, I recommend you don't do that.
So here's where (other than the finger) I ran into my only snag. Sheet called for a .255 shim, but the only one available had some obvious pitting. I mic'd it at .1004", so it was still in spec, so I went ahead and used it anyway. I just put the pitted side down towards the bucket.
Side note, after I swapped shims I rechecked each valve. However, rather than just immediately recheck I hooked a drill up to the 14mm timing bolt and spun the engine in the correct direction for about 30 seconds to make sure the shims had seated properly.
So this shows the measurements. Top line I measured clearance, next is installed shim, next is new shim, last is new measured clearance. I generally went to the looser side of specs as valves usually get tighter as they wear. Final is shim kit, inventoried, ready for return. It was at this point that my wife anden'd me, so no more pictures. Since then I've antisiezed the plugs and reinstalled them to 12lb/ft, pulled the float bowls off the carbs and blown them out, antisiezed the stainless shcs I got from Randy, and reinstalled the carbs. Still to be done is final reassembly and test, tomorrow.
Quote from: fudge12 on November 11, 2016, 06:52:29 PM
Still to be done is final reassembly and test, tomorrow.
Maybe synch the carbs too? Good time to do that.
Yeah, probably do that too. I did it a thousand miles ago, but with the twinmax it takes almost no time.
Almost back together
All done. Took it for a nice 20ish mile test drive, runs very smooth. Has a slight tick from the #1 intake valve area, so tomorrow I'll yank the cover off and recheck those. I'm wondering if the lack of clearance on those was due to/exacerbated by schmutz in the valve seat which got knocked loose by opening up the clearances again. Oh well, find out tomorrow.
Quote from: fudge12 on November 12, 2016, 11:01:45 AM
Has a slight tick from the #1 intake valve area, so tomorrow I'll yank the cover off and recheck those.
Don't be surprised if you find nothing wrong. The ticking from #1 is a characteristic of these engines, amongst other inbuilt acoustic accoutrement's. :music:
Quote from: fudge12 on November 12, 2016, 11:01:45 AM
Has a slight tick from the #1 intake valve area, so tomorrow I'll yank the cover off and recheck those.
Something else to consider looking at. Check the torque of the nuts on the exhaust studs. The torque is very low and has been seen to loosen a bit. It cant hurt to re-torque them. You may end up with an even quieter engine.
Fred
I pulled the cover and swapped the original 260 shims back in in place of the 255s I had installed. Tick all gone. I was using a mechanics stethoscope, so I had the noise pretty well pinned to the intake valve area. I will run the torque wrench across the exhaust studs anyway, thanks for the heads up.
Side note: trust but verify. According to my spark plugs I was running a bit rich. I grabbed the dynojet kit to see what other jets I had available, and pulled this out of one of the alternate main jets.
Don't bother measuring the gaps after the new shims are in.
If the use of a micrometer (after being dissatisfied with the accuracy of digital calipers) to verify shim size didn't clue you in, or the use of a torque wrench, that ain't me. My former life as a helicopter crew chief pretty well set me on the path of 'check your work carefully.' :wacko2:
Quote from: FJmonkey on November 12, 2016, 07:40:03 PM
Don't bother measuring the gaps after the new shims are in.
Mark, I don't agree with that. The final measurement is the most important because it's the one you're going to run with. That's when you discover you picked up the wrong shim, miscalculated the math, something's stopping it from seating properly etc - it happens, even to mechanics.
Noel
Ok, so back at it. I wish there were more choices for shims. My #1 intake valves were .102mm and .127mm. Spec is .1 to .15, so they're both in but the one is just barely above minimum. Adding the next size shim gets me .152, which is just barely out of spec on the other side. Opinions? Barely in spec on the low end or barely out of spec on the high end?
So this is showing the cutout in the valve shim bucket. First pic shows the left side in position, second shows after I rotated the right side into position also.
Depending on the shim range, there are some "2" and "8" sizes.
I have all of the shim options as normal stocking items. I am currently out if a couple of sizes at the moment.
http://rpmracingca.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Head%3AVs (http://rpmracingca.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Head%3AVs)
I always stay to the loose side of the range. They only get tighter with wear, excluding a valve seat falling out.
Randy - RPM
From the mouth of the master! Thanks Randy, I'll go with the .152. Unfortunately this particular size is one or the other, 255 and 260 (in the shim kit anyway).
The shim chart has been updated to include the half sizes as well. http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=16002.msg161276#msg161276 (http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=16002.msg161276#msg161276)
Quote from: fudge12 on November 13, 2016, 09:11:15 AM
From the mouth of the master! Thanks Randy, I'll go with the .152. Unfortunately this particular size is one or the other, 255 and 260 (in the shim kit anyway).
Yes, the shim kit does not have the "half" sizes in it. But, they are available to purchase if you need them.
Randy - RPM
No worries, it's all back together and working fine, with no additional noises. Thanks again!
If it came down to it, I could have the valve cover off again in about 10 minutes and could probably weld up a good analogue of the tool.