Question about measuring valve clearance

[glstine]

I am waiting for some piston rings and valve stem seals to arrive. I was wondering if it is okay to go ahead and put the cam shafts back on the head and measure the clearances thinking I could go ahead and order shims. I will have to take the valves out to replace the seals (took the valves out and cleaned them previously, didn't know I had to replace the seals if I take the valves out) and didn't know if this would adversely affect valve clearances.

[rapidray]

If you are disassembling the head to replace the valve seals, you should CLEAN everything well & LAP the valves before you re-assemble. This way your top end will be about as fresh as you can get it without doing a valve job too. After all this is finished, THEN put the cams in & check the valve clearance. Rotating the cams to check the clearances will be MUCH easier though if the head is back on the motor. Good luck, Ray.

[glstine]

Okay still learing this stuff, what does LAP the valves mean?

[BassCliff]

Google is your friend

Hi,

Here's one way:

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/This-is-a-demo-on-how-to_80862.htm

Here's a pretty thorough valve job write-up:

http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford/corvair/valvejob.html

These aren't motorcycle engines, but you get the idea.

Reassemble your motor with all the fresh parts. Then adjust the valve clearances before you sync the carbs.



Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[glstine]

Cool, something simple that I might not screw up (been having a bit of a rough go at it if you haven't seen my other posts). Thanks for the links.