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[Fwd: Re: 1600 valve lash]

To: Datsun Roadsters <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Subject: [Fwd: Re: 1600 valve lash]
From: "David R. Conrad" <conrad1@gte.net>
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 15:29:51 -1000
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Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 15:15:46 -1000
From: "David R. Conrad" <conrad1@gte.net>
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To: Thomas Walter <walter@omni.sps.mot.com>
Subject: Re: 1600 valve lash
References: <9902211406.AA13981@omni.sps.mot.com>

Tom:

You very likely could help with several (probably elementary) questions
I have on the subject of valve adjustment:

(1)  "HOT"--How do you do that?  I do adjust my valves after the engine
has been running, but then you must remove the plugs and valve cover. 
Then, the way I employ to rotate the crankshaft is to use a hoist to
pull the car in gear, to adjust # 1 with # 8 fully open, #3 with # 6
fully open, etc.  This all, of course, takes time--I guess, for me,
about an hour.  If the engine was hot at the beginning of this process,
it is only warm at the completion.

(2)  The .017" clearance.  Back some time, maybe 20 years ago, I was
using .019", and cold.  Don't remember where I got that number, but the
engine was "rattley".  Didn't worry about that too much, because an "old
wives (or mechanics) tale said, "better a little bit too loose, than too
tight".  I then began using the .017, with the above procedure which
eliminated the clatter.

(3)  But, with the engine cooling during my process of adjustment, maybe
they were ending up *too* tight.  Don't know--Do you know which way
valve clearances go between "hot" and "cold"?  In a very complex thermal
expansion situation, the expansion of the push rod, by itself, would
seem to go in the direction of increasing valve clearance (but I haven't
thought that out very carefully).

(4)  How many miles between valve adjustments?  I I do it everytime I
retorque the head bolts.  I just checked my records and discovered that
the last time I did it was October 1994, some 19,000 mi. ago!  Can't
remember going that long before.  As mileage increases, which way to
valve clearances tend to go, tighter or looser?

Any facts or thoughts on these matters would be greatly appreciated, as
you might perceive from the foregoing, I've been a little perplexed
about this subject.

Thanks, Aloha, 

Dave
'68 1600


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