I have just started the valve adjustment on my 1600 whilst the motor is out of the car. I had some issues with a couple of the valve adjusting screws being stuck so hard in the lock nut that i had to use brute force and a lot of naughty words to get it out. Let's just say the offending screw and nut are in slightly less than showroom condition now.
I was wondering if these are generic part which I could pick from a Bursons or similar, or whether I have to order them from VW specialist? I'm really happy with the VW specialists, but it's either mail order or drive an hour each way to visit.
Any help on some alternatives would be much appreciated.
71 Clementine Superbug Autostick
chillihilli wrote:I have just started the valve adjustment on my 1600 whilst the motor is out of the car. I had some issues with a couple of the valve adjusting screws being stuck so hard in the lock nut that i had to use brute force and a lot of naughty words to get it out. Let's just say the offending screw and nut are in slightly less than showroom condition now.
I was wondering if these are generic part which I could pick from a Bursons or similar, or whether I have to order them from VW specialist? I'm really happy with the VW specialists, but it's either mail order or drive an hour each way to visit.
Any help on some alternatives would be much appreciated.
Hi
These are special parts...
some one has obviously overtightened Your screws...
or maybe a very strong person.. ??
although done up tight with a spanner I never need to use a socket and bar etc.. and they don't come loose..
its a good thing to replace the nuts and tappet screws once they have been over tightened etc..
good to have spares .. also sump nuts ...
cheers
LEE
111-109-451 8mm valve adjusting screw
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
Hi
No real easy alternatives. Early Mazda pushrod engines had swivel feet rockers that fitted VW engines.
You might be able to pick up a nut from a nut & bolt place.
Steve
1303Steve wrote:Hi
No real easy alternatives. Early Mazda pushrod engines had swivel feet rockers that fitted VW engines.
You might be able to pick up a nut from a nut & bolt place.
Steve
Hi Steve
they are a very coarse nut... although I have never tried to screw anything on one... lol
You can also buy Non Genuine kits of swivel feet screws and nuts..
I have a few spare heads with everything.. .
it pays to have spares when You are a long way from any VW shop... lol
cheers
LEE
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
Thanks guys, off to the vw shop I go!
71 Clementine Superbug Autostick
Try for good used ones, far superior to the new ones made of butter or something similar.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
I took the drive out and Picked them up. New ones look ok but come with a half nut. I will retain the OE nut where possible. Given that they were over tightened in the past, they should be ok with me doing the maintenance now. If they are adjusted regularly they should not lock up. I am thinking a drop of oil in the thread wouldn't go astray either.
71 Clementine Superbug Autostick
Yep, some lube is good on assembly. The new ones have issues with the hard facing wearing prematurely, can damage the valve tips.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
I'll keep that in mind Matt. I did notice that my old ones had funny angles ground into them - obviously from wear and I suspect lack of adjustment.
On a slightly different note - when adjusting them I did one cylinder at a time, turning the crank 180 deg clockwise in between. I noticed when I got to cylinder 4, they were WAY out. I was worried that I had rotated it wrong. At the top of the stroke (ie either TDC or 180) both the intake and the exhaust valves were pretty much equal in height. Does that sound about right?
71 Clementine Superbug Autostick
chillihilli wrote:I'll keep that in mind Matt. I did notice that my old ones had funny angles ground into them - obviously from wear and I suspect lack of adjustment.
On a slightly different note - when adjusting them I did one cylinder at a time, turning the crank 180 deg clockwise in between. I noticed when I got to cylinder 4, they were WAY out. I was worried that I had rotated it wrong. At the top of the stroke (ie either TDC or 180) both the intake and the exhaust valves were pretty much equal in height. Does that sound about right?
this happens to Me quite a bit too... lol
I always triple check....
last time only One cylinder was OK...
all the others were very Tight...
so, I keep asking Myself was it because of the way I adjusted them last time...
I'll never know...
but I had noticed a drop off in performance...
I normally do them every oil change [1000 to 1500klms]
but I hadn't done them all winter as it was too cold... lol
engine had only done about 3000klms..
LEE
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
chillihilli wrote:I took the drive out and Picked them up. New ones look ok but come with a half nut. I will retain the OE nut where possible. Given that they were over tightened in the past, they should be ok with me doing the maintenance now. If they are adjusted regularly they should not lock up. I am thinking a drop of oil in the thread wouldn't go astray either.
lubrication is good on threads..
lets You get maximum torque on the threads etc..
I just use a normal 7 or 8 inch long ring spanner and have no problems with them coming loose..
the large threads really do their work..
My Son said he had some with allen key heads
I believe they would be much better then the flat screwdriver slots in the screws... IMHO
cheers
LEE
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
Tappets have never given me any seizing problems before. What you have experienced must be an unusual case, because the stock setup is pretty simple and is worth keeping. maybe some silly person put a rattle gun to em'. Don't take it to heart as being the 'norm' struggle that you will have to experience on every tappet adjustment.
(ô_!_/ô) (ô_!_/ô)
69' baja: kombi box, thing spindles, irs, disc front, type 3 rear drums, 2 inch lift kit, 31x10 rears. 👍
New engine in process: 94mm p&bs, 74mm C/w chomol Crank, 35.5x39 SP heads, turbo. Wierd combo, hopeful torque monsta!
You may be right Chris...
something I couldn't even imagine...🤓
cheers
Lee
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
bajachris88 wrote:Don't take it to heart as being the 'norm' struggle that you will have to experience on every tappet adjustment.
Thanks Chris. I am finding that pretty much everything on this car has not been dine properly. At least now if it's not right I know who to blame. !
I will replace the adjusters on the weekend.
Cheers Pete
71 Clementine Superbug Autostick
Also, I find light pressure on the pushrod side of the rocker gives me correct clearance with no re-adjusting plus when you tighten the nut this can loosen the clearance as the backlash in the adjusters thread is taken up so you have to allow for this 🙂
madness is in the eye of the beholder 👍
psimitar wrote:Also, I find light pressure on the pushrod side of the rocker gives me correct clearance with no re-adjusting plus when you tighten the nut this can loosen the clearance as the backlash in the adjusters thread is taken up so you have to allow for this 🙂
Yep I got it done. I discovered the weight of the screwdriver was sometimes enough to move the rocker, do sticking my thumb on the pushrod side kept it wide open. I found the nuts and adjusters tighten the same way and a little cinch of the nut would tighten the adjuster just a tad, do I allowed for this.
Most interesting was that some if them were way out, even though I had already done them. I believe I did not have the sequence right as this time I checked TDC by a pencil on the #1 piston and checking the position if the rotor being close to the notch. Finished up with new gaskets and shiny new stainless rocker covers. All good!
71 Clementine Superbug Autostick
Hi
I have these tools to use when adjusting vales, pity none of my cars use rockers that I can use these on.
Steve
Hi
Regarding adjusting Valves. When I worked in a VW shop many years ago and we would do many services at once on air cooled cars.
A trick that I was shown was to set the valves without standing up and down to turn the motor over.
We would 1st remove all the plugs and let the handbrake off, put the trans in 4th gear.
If working on hoist I would adjust one rear brake so that it would lock on, its a good time to adjust brakes anyway, then turn the other wheel to get the correct valves rocking, then release the brake and do the same on the other side.
If working on the floor you can do the same thing, but I was always able to hold the opposing wheel with my foot and turn the other wheel with my hand to get the valves rocking.
Steve
Those tools look the goods! They would get a little extra torque on the nut too. The motor is out of the car so it's easy enough to hand crank with a shifter. I will keep that in mind with the wheel trick, if I ever buy a manual! 🤪
71 Clementine Superbug Autostick
chillihilli wrote:psimitar wrote:Also, I find light pressure on the pushrod side of the rocker gives me correct clearance with no re-adjusting plus when you tighten the nut this can loosen the clearance as the backlash in the adjusters thread is taken up so you have to allow for this 🙂
Yep I got it done. I discovered the weight of the screwdriver was sometimes enough to move the rocker, do sticking my thumb on the pushrod side kept it wide open. I found the nuts and adjusters tighten the same way and a little cinch of the nut would tighten the adjuster just a tad, do I allowed for this.
Most interesting was that some if them were way out, even though I had already done them. I believe I did not have the sequence right as this time I checked TDC by a pencil on the #1 piston and checking the position if the rotor being close to the notch. Finished up with new gaskets and shiny new stainless rocker covers. All good!
Yes, if tightening the nut makes the clearance tighter then you need to allow for that to get the correct clearance. On new adjusters it may not be much but on older ones it can be a few hundreths of a mm.
madness is in the eye of the beholder 👍
