My second valve check

[ssevy]

I bought my 95 with 17,500 miles on it, and checked the valve clearance at 19,881 miles the first time. Today I did my second check at 43,152 miles, and I need to replace a few shims.
Here are my measurements to compare:

May 2014 - 19881 miles
Cylinder   Intake          Exhaust
     1        .005 .005      .009 .008
     2        .005 .006      .006 .007
     3        .004 .004      .007 .006

April 2017 - 43,152 miles
Cylinder   Intake          Exhaust
     1        .004 .004      .008 .007
     2        .004 .005      .005 .006
     3        .004 .003      .006 .005

Essentially, every measurement was .001 less than the previous one, except for cylinder 3 intake. Pretty interesting.

I decided to correct the .003 intake and the two .005 exhausts, so I dug through my storage drawers for my Mustang tool, but I must have loaned it out, as I couldn't find it? So, I pulled the camshafts instead, and was glad that I did, as each bucket and shim cam out as one unit with a magnet, and required quite a bit of prying to separate. Not sure, but I think they would have been a bitch to get out and replace using the tool.
Of course, the other advantage was that I could create a master list of my shim sizes, so next time I'll know what to get without having to pull the old one first. In any case, many of the sizes were worn off, and measuring the marked one with my digital calipers required just the right amount of pressure on the thumbwheel to get it to match the printed spec. Fortunately, 2 out of three were still visible, and I think the third was damn close as I took several measurements to be sure.

So, the intake of .003 had a shim of (measured) 2.80, and the chart told me I needed a 2.75 to replace it.

One exhaust was .005 with a shim of 2.725, so the chart told me I needed a 2.65 to replace it.

The other exhaust was also .005, but had a shim of 2.75, so the chart told me I needed a 2.70 to replace it.

Unfortunately, the shop only had 2.65, so that's what I got. Any issues with this?

Also, the Mac Tool truck happened to be at the dealership, so I grabbed a stubby T30 bit to help with the access for the torque wrench putting the cams back in. I was careful to align TDC and put some paint marks on the cam gears and chain, so I hope everything goes back together easily. Fingers crossed!

[threepot]

I wouldn't worry about that shim size? What is it..5/100 mm? It will only close to the correct clearance in time.
Another advantage removing the cams..you can check some other parts..tensioner,guides. Is it the original chain?

[ssevy]

Never did find my Mustang tool, but I've got a few calls out to my buddies trying to track it down.
As it turned out, the shims were awfully tight in the buckets, so having the bucket in my hand made prying them out much easier. My magnet worked great to simply pull each bucket up and out, and I did just one at a time so as to not screw the pooch.
Getting the camshafts back in was actually simple, and I was anticipating some trial and error getting the timing correct because of the chain slack, but I got it the second try!
First try, I felt it jump a tooth as I was gently snugging up the caps, so I loosened everything back up, realigned my paint marks and all the TDC marks, and then wrapped my spark plug socket in a rag and jammed it in the tensioner hole so that the chain couldn't slacken again. That made all the difference, and it was easy-peasy to get things back together then. One thing that did throw me for a moment was that the tab is not the TDC mark. The actual mark is just below the tab, as illustrated in the line drawings in the Triumph factory manual. I first looked at the marks on the cams, which were lined up perfectly, and then noticed the tab was slightly off from pointing at the pick up coil; I thought I had tightened it up one tooth off, but before I took it back apart, I looked everything over more closely and realized the mark and the tab were not the same thing. Whew! By the way, I did rotate the engine by hand several passes just to make sure that TDC was stable and I didn't have any kinks in the cam chain. Before I remounted the fuel tank, I used the fuel left in the float bowls just to start it and make sure all was as it should be.
I won't lie, I was relieved to hear it start up and run :icon_wink:
While I was at it, I put in new spark plugs as well, and then finished up.

Here's my wee bottle of oil which I used to pre-oil all of the shims and then the camshaft before attaching the caps:


Here you can see the paint marks I put on the chain for an extra measure of security:


Finally, here's a picture of the only "Aw shit" moment. See if you can figure it out (notice the freshly installed and torqued cam cover):




That's correct, I had gotten the camshaft cover back on, when I happened to glance at my work table and see the chain guide still laying there

Even though I had never done the camshaft removal previously, I broke two of my cardinal rules, and did not number the parts as they came off (which makes reassembly childishly easy), or take any photos along the way with which to later refer. Fortunately, although it bit me in the ass, it was just a nibble this time, and you can bet the next job will have a sheet of butcher's paper taped on the work table and a new Sharpie at hand before the first piece comes off!
I also installed a Clearwater voltage kit, which I had been waiting to install the next time I had the tank off. It is a nice farkle, with a single LED that changes blinking rate and color to let you know the status of your battery and charging system. I drilled a hole in the black plastic dashboard above the speedo and mounted the LED there. Works great!

[Danwarb]

Really great post here ssevy.

Really informative and enabling.