Keith said:
>Having never "done" valves before, how difficult is this? I suppose the
valves >should be checked on my car, having 21 years in its life and 78,000
miles on its >odometer. Any special tools required?
Hi Keith,
What you are checking is the clearance between the top of the valve and the
rocker arm when the valve is all of the way up. The tool that you need is a
feeler guage, available for a couple of bucks from any auto supply store.
I've never owned a B so I don't know the clearances or if you need a
specific type of wrench, but what you have in your toolbox will certainly
work. I use a screwdriver and a nut driver.
Use the "Rule of 9," that is, when valve number 1 is closed, valve number 8
is opened. When 2 is closed, 7 is open, etc. The pairs alternate in
numbers that add up to 9. There is a pretty detailed procedure in the
Haynes manual. Since you will have the valve cover off, you will also want
to change the valve cover gasket, and the grommets where the cover bolts to
the head, since they have probably degraded after all of those miles.
Inspect the condition of the valve rockers also, make sure there is at least
a little bit of oil flowing over the valves, and make sure you don't have
any foreign objects in there, like bits of metal. Don't torque the valve
cover too tightly, since that could deform the gasket.
To make your like easier, you may want to get a remote starter switch to
turn the engine over, which you will need to do repeatedly in order to close
specific valves. (Of course you could also do your tune-up outside, and
simply turn the engine by pushing the car while in 4th gear.)
Regards,
Charles
'74 Midget
'68 Sprite
Bloomfield, NJ
cdsorkin@ix.netcom.com
"How about we duck inside for a Hen?"
|