drillmastertommy Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Hey all, I finally got some good weather yesterday and the family allowed me to get stuck into some work on my old flathead which was great! Soon I'll have new piston rings installed in freshly honed barrels and a whole row of freshly lapped valves. I'm lucky enough to have some great speed parts on my old 218 which, the further I delve into it appears to be either quite low mileage or rebuilt not too many moons ago. Amongst the hop up parts is a pair of cast headers that came from Langdons and I love them! Only thing is they make access to the valve area really difficult! Even getting valve covers of is hard enough. It's a long shot but I was wondering if anybody has pioneered a workable way of doing the clearances with the headers still in place? Right now I have all manifolds off the engine and am setting the clearances cold according to the manual specs after lapping the valves but I know they will be most accurately set when hot. Anybody got any tips or is it a non starter? (Unlike my engine which always starts brilliantly!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P15-D24 Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 (edited) Good pair of welding gloves with high cuffs, correct tappet wrenches (you need two) and a set of go/nogo gauges for the clearances you need, Also pull the tire and remove the access panel in the wheel well. At least that was you have a straight on view and expect a few burns. Edited February 3, 2013 by P15-D24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martybose Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Good pair of welding gloves with high cuffs, correct tappet wrenches (you need two) and a set of go/nogo gauges for the clearances you need, Also pull the tire and remove the access panel in the wheel well. At least that was you have a straight on view and expect a few burns. What he said, with emphasis on having the right tappet wrenches. You will struggle a bit with "standard" wrenches. Marty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alshere59 Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Well gaskets are fairly cheap. Run your old stock exhaust for a bit and get them set. Failing that have a Friend over and bet him he can't do it with the headers on and running. You may want to do that after a beverage or two. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drillmastertommy Posted February 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 Well gaskets are fairly cheap. Run your old stock exhaust for a bit and get them set. Failing that have a Friend over and bet him he can't do it with the headers on and running. You may want to do that after a beverage or two. Being a blacksmith by day means I am not unused to a burn or two but doing this hot is pretty much a guarantee! I am really liking idea number two though, I just need to work out which of my friends is gullible enough to go for it but also mechanically competent enough to hold a spanner! It's amazing how many people I know that, for all their other talents would struggle to recognise the working end of a screwdriver! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudford Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 Being a blacksmith by day means I am not unused to a burn or two but doing this hot is pretty much a guarantee! I am really liking idea number two though, I just need to work out which of my friends is gullible enough to go for it but also mechanically competent enough to hold a spanner! It's amazing how many people I know that, for all their other talents would struggle to recognise the working end of a screwdriver! what are you trying to say?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drillmastertommy Posted February 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 what are you trying to say?! You'll notice I didn't mention any names yet but if you fancy giving it a go I'm happy to buy the beer........ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudford Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 (edited) Good pair of welding gloves with high cuffs, correct tappet wrenches (you need two) and a set of go/nogo gauges for the clearances you need, Also pull the tire and remove the access panel in the wheel well. At least that was you have a straight on view and expect a few burns. "correct tappet wrenches"... forgive the ignorance, is there a specific set/brand of tappet adjusters which would be more desirable as opposed to any other adjusters/wrenches? You'll notice I didn't mention any names yet but if you fancy giving it a go I'm happy to buy the beer........ mmm.... beer Edited February 4, 2013 by dudford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P15-D24 Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 Tappet wrench are long and very thin, allowing then to be easily stacked on top of each other. You need to do that to make the adjustment. Plus the length gets back from the exhaust. tappet wrench link at McMaster Carr Pretty sure Sears still has them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alshere59 Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 Tappet wrench are long and very thin, allowing then to be easily stacked on top of each other. You need to do that to make the adjustment. Plus the length gets back from the exhaust. tappet wrench link at McMaster Carr Pretty sure Sears still has them. Well I have to agree tappet wrenches are a must as they are thinner and I doubt you could do this with a standard set. The longer part of the wrench is what will work against you when adjusting with headers. Most tappet wrenches are 10 inches or so and the space to get them in there and adjust is about 7 inches. So last bit of advice. Run your engine up to temp then adjust what you can reach. Then shut it off and adjust those hard to reach tappets starting it up every couple of valves. You will have to bump it to get it where you can set the gap but at least your not fighting them moving up and down all of the time. Remember you have two hands your exhaust and some type of light in there all at the same time. Not an ideal situation no matter how you do it. Gasket set or beer soundng better al the time. Do a trial fit and see how to get your wrenches on them. One last thing to mention as I ran into this. If you have a noisy tappet after adjusting them (I did) the tappet itself can have a divet or be concave from wear. I had one that was noisy as all get out. I ended up going to 6 thousands instead of 10 to get it quiet. (I worked my way down until the noise went mostly away) I replaced the tappets later on during a second rebuild which is a long story involving bearings. Luckly the machine shop ate the cost of everything but the tappets for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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