valve adjusting party

i have the project engine on the table saw and the last thing that needed done to it was set the valves so me and my son went out to have at it
then his buddy shows up and we have a observer
first i run the feeler gauges, son records then his buddy wants to try, i write son watches, josh runs the gauges, then everyone switches
see where this is going? everybody got different readings, the go/nogo can't be wrong but everybody saw the cam lobe perpendicular to the shim/bucket differently
it doesn't take much rotation to change a measurement
theres got to be a better way, or at least a way to carry the error through the whole prosses
we even tried to have the same person spin the cam all the way around and get the same result and that only worked about half the time
anyone know a trick ?
i put about ten miles on the engine and it doesn't even have plugs in it yet

 

I use Fitz's go or no go feeler gauge routine.

MN

 

Bring back tappets, I'm over the whole shimming thing. :x
BTW I thought that was very funny Mr P.
Has any of your team managed to knock off a pick up coil?

 

Can you post up the results? Should not be that big a difference I would think.

 

Heck, I didn't need three people. I did this same thing myself. There's a place on the cam that has more clearance than the 180, but 180 is where you should measure. If you are eyeball close to 180, then there is not much difference, but about 20 degrees off or maybe more, there is enough difference to put it over the line between good and not good. Do the best you can and remember, it only matters at the edges of the limits. Unless you've found a really cool gauge set, it probably skips in .05mm incrments above .10mm and is bigger than the difference anyway. (I had one that measured .08 and .10 depending on where I had it. Both of these, however, should be fixed with a 1 step down in size making them either a .13 or .15 gap if all goes correctly)

 

the gauge set doesn't matter all that much if it skips, remember you can combine blades to get the sizes it skips...

 

got it find the point that the valve is fully opened, tape the degree wheel you just made on the computer to the ignition wheel thingy and line it up with the pointer
now a valve will always be ready to measure at 0 or 180 no guess work about it, repeatable results
repeat for the other cam
3 degrees on the crank is 1.5 on the cam and that makes a nogo a go, so how close can you guess at "lobe pointing away from bucket"

 

Polock, pull that last post before RickCoMatic sees it, he will take the p..s.

 

I just have the "Limit" Feeler Guages tiny tie-wrapped together.
If if "Flunks" limit specs ... then, I get the whole set out and do the Math.

 

3 degrees on the crank can make that nogo, go them you have to do it 7 more times 1 1/2 degrees on the cam is like 2 flakes of pixie dust
i realize everyone doesn't have a dial indicator but i do and this was a good place to use it, they all got set to the loose limit and the next owner can check them if he wants to

 

You're overthinking this WAAYYY too far.

Nice work, by the way.

 

Sometimes these threads do get a bit "Out-of-hand", without any explanation as to what is going on for the newcomers.

My worst fear is that some newbee, doing Bong-hits, poppin' No-Doze tablets, staying stoked sipping Jack Daniels, working all through the night with Pink Floyd blasting, to yank the Engine out of his frame in order to be able to set-up the Dial Indicator he bought on-sale from Harbor Freight so that he could make sure the Cam Lobes were all perfectly perpendicular to the Valve Bucket Shims on the Bike he bought on Ebay with low-low mileage and no title, that doesn't even need the Valves Clearances checked yet, finds-out that all his Valves are in specs and he doesn't have a New Cam Cover gasket for the one he wrecked pulling-off the old one.

 

Polock, your a mathamatical genius.
BTW why is that boot still on there?

 

I guess I can see if harbor freight can give me a refund on my brand new :dial indicator:


Rick can you some how see through my computer screen? Man that was just freaky how close you nail that description 8O

 

Freakin' uncanny ain't I?
The next guy will Post a series of pictures he took in the dark showing a three dimensional image of his Cam Lobe where the the convergence of three different frequencies of laser beams emitting light at multiple distinct wavelengths simultaneously, become perfectly white as they all arrive at the same point on the polished surface of the Camshafts Lobe.

This will be accurate to the tolerance of: .000000124 +/- .00000011 depending upon relative humidity and the density of the atmosphere at the altitude above sea level and the level of ambient noise which might interfere with the accuracy of the Low Frequency Laser.

The test will cost $1,750 an Hour, but it will be worth it to one-up "That Dial Guage Guy".

That's when work will begin to construct a 25-Cubic Foot Vacuum Chamber to eliminate the effect of atmosphere on the Lasers.

 

You wouldn't be told Polock, would you. :lol:

 

Have you ever considered DECAF?

 

I love how some of these things take a hard turn. Polock a masterful solution to a (problem?)

I think I'll just keep eying my cam Lobes to 180 and go from there

 

I'll just have the nanobots take a moment off from rebuilding sheared oil molecules to check the gap periodically. When they download via green eyelash (upgrade from blue tooth), they will let me know if any need to be changed.

 

Rick you crack me up!!! :lol:

 

you guys are killen me, i'am going to go see how far i can throw my YICS tool

 

:lol: That's a different discussion, Should we place bets on how far it goes?

 

Polock,
After reading the first few posts I was thinking the same way. Back when we were building V-8s we used an indexing wheel on the crank. You set for the first one and then if it is off just a hair at least they will all be off by the same hair.
Good work.

 

I call about 3 feet. At which time it will impale itself in the ceiling of his garage...

 

Folks the part of the cam that is 180 degrees opposite the highest point (the rise) is referred to as the dwell lobe of the cam. When the dwell lobe is centered right over the shim then this is where you check your valve clearance. As you depart from this position the cam geometry begins to transition up to the peak (opposite the dwell).

 

Absolutely nothing wrong with Pink Floyd.....always listen to their classic album, "The Dark Side of the Cam", when adjusting valves.

 

Pink Floyd? Does he do valve adjustments?

 

Pink Floyd stopped by my shop and did a couple of numbers, unplugged, while I used the new Portable 9 Volt, non-destructive, multi-function, multi-laser, real-time, Cam Lobe Height Perfection Detector.

 

after some Floyd that should be more like this

 

No no no, that's valve adjustment while listening to The Doors.........very bad combination.

 

Hay that's not 180 degrees! Do it again! lol

 

you guys crack me up :lol:

 

You sure don't want to get any grit in there. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNSGGDwJcEY