It's time to check my valves and adjust them if necessary. I have been reading many of your old post's on this and I am feeling pretty secure about doing this myself.I have a couple of questions. First should I buy the shim kit I have found for about $90 and be prepared,or will I probably still not have all the ones I need? Is there a normal range of sizes used and I could stock 4 of each? I really like to finish what I start in the same day.I also am not sure what assembly lube is. I will also have the TDC locking bolt and other tools as recomended by you fine people.I REALLY appreciate this forum and all the positive input. Thanks in advance!! Mike[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

well this is just my personal opinion so here goes, the instructions I got from mrhp say to put motor oil on the cams and carriers when putting back together not assembly lube, I used the oil I was gonna put in my motor, second I think the shims are available in 29mm diameter and thickness from 2.00mm to 3.0mm and when I took mine apart they had 2.45mm shims in the valves, the shims only costlike 3 dollars a peice, I would start working on it on monday checking my valve clearances and recording them, I personally think that chances are you will most likely need intake shims if any, the exhaust shims are usually ok, why spend 90 on a shim kit when all you need to do is spend 7 on 2 shims after you find out what size you need, once again just my .02 someone please correct me if I am wrong, thanks fellas

 

My take on the assembly lube is that its not necessary when just doing a shim replacement. Since you are not tearing down the motor, the oil is already primed so when you start it up, engine oil is there right away. When you do a tear down of the engine, obviously the oil is completely drained and when you go to start it up, there will be some lag time before the oil pressure is brought up and parts get lubricated. That's when the assembly lube comes in. With that said, I don't think there would be any harm using assembly lube even though its not need during a shim change.

When I did my 730 build up, Eric gave me this assembly lube that comes in a spray can. It sprays on like WD-40 but instantly gels up like assembly lube. Worked great for even coverage of parts.

 

When I replaced my Cams and went with the shim under kit I used a small amount of assembly lube on the cam shaft as well as a small amount on the lobes. Then I poured a light layer of motor oil over the whole thing before battening it up. Certainly can't hurt using Assembly lube, it's digested by the motor oil after a couple of minutes anyway..... Although when it comes to the piston, well that's a different story......

 

well I guess I stand corrected,[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

 

Not at all Dave, You did as instructed.

By the way here is a good link for purchasing shims:

Valve Shims

 

hey don did you get your clutch actuator fixed? I am putting my new baja seat cover on now lol with help from the kids its going really good lol, I'll post the pics from it on my webshots page so you can see my mug lol later fellas

 

If your shims are fine, you shouldn't need to lube anything. If you have to change shims, I'ld put the shim in some motor oil then coat the cam journals and cams with assembly lube.

I'm pretty liberal with the assembly lube but. . . only thing bad about the assembly lubes is they usually contain (no spell check here) mollibdnium (wow, I know I butchered that one). Anyways (I think that's why people just call it Molly) and wet clutches don't go good together. The Molly will coat your clutch and cause it to slip. Again, I've had my motor oil be pink from assembly lube and even with it that color I didn't have clutch problems (yes, I'm knocking on wood!)

 

After throughly checking the clutch shaft I found another piece of tooth but it didn't come off the Actuator..... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] it came off the clutch shaft !! The damage had been there for quite some time because you could see the broken tooth on the shaft was polished from wear.
Instead of purchasing another one I just rotated in 180deg's and reinstalled the everything. The clutch shaft doesn't turn more the about a 1/4 of the diameter so it should be fine for now. If I break off another tooth from the Actuator then I will take the time to replace the shaft as well.


Just a side note: pay close attention to the position of the actuator when installing the clutch cover. It really does make a difference which way the teeth are facing....LOL