Adjusting valve clearance and identifying camshaft

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caprikid61
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Adjusting valve clearance and identifying camshaft

Post by caprikid61 »

Hi Guys I am doing a oil change on my 2 litre pinto tomorrow so I thought I would also have a go at adjusting the valve clearance but I have never done it before . I have noticed a ticking sound so I thought the adjusting of the clearance might help , I have been reading other posts on here and from what I can gather its quite straight forward .

All I have to do is make sure that the lobe on the camshaft is pointing upwards on every cylinder before I start by turning the cam before I do each one , so I guess that means that I can adjust the fuel and exhaust at the same time on each cylinder ? Also I am not sure what camshaft I have fitted I was told it was a fr34 when I got the car but I thought I had better make sure.

I was going to try putting my phone down at the back of the camshaft and taking a photo to try and see whats written on the end of the camshaft , what do you all think ? Would that work ? Failing that I would have to try and source a mirror to have a look that way . Any adivce would help as I am new to all this . Many thanks in advance Alex
caprikid61
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Re: Adjusting valve clearance and identifying camshaft

Post by caprikid61 »

Looks like a Kent Cam FR 32 to me does anyone know the clearence settings for that cam??Image
Mc Tool
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Re: Adjusting valve clearance and identifying camshaft

Post by Mc Tool »

I googled Kent cams , clicked product catalogue , ran down the list till I got to FR32 and there it was , in 10 thou / ex 12 thou , cold :) .
This can be a bitch of a job for the noob . You will find that as you tighten the lock nuts on the ball studs that the clearance that you have just meticulously set will close up . As the lock nut is tightened it tends to stretch the stud and pull it out of the head , probly 2-3 thou..... This IS normal , and with a bit of practice ( and technique development ) you can estimate this and allow for it . What I do is to suss out how much closure you get with the lock nut properly tightened , like set clearance at 10 thou , tighten the lock nut and then measure again and if you have 7 thou then you have "lost" 3 so reset the clearance to 13 thou and tighten lock nut till you have the 10 thou you want . If when you are tightening the lock nut you find that with the correct clearance the nut is either wimpy loose or stupidly tight ....... start again :) . It is a bit of #ucking about but once you have the knack it will be easy . There are a couple of lock nuts that are hard to get a spanner onto .... even if you remove the carb and the studs from the intake manifold..............there is a special spanner available ........I persevered for years without it ............. dumb , just get one :) and if you cant find one they aint hard to make
Sometimes I talk to myself ... and we both have a good laugh
caprikid61
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Re: Adjusting valve clearance and identifying camshaft

Post by caprikid61 »

Thanks MC for that very informative answer at least I now know what the setting are but I should have thought of doing that myself :oops: . I see where your coming from its not as easy as I thought it was going to be , I watched a video of someone doing it on youtube but they made it look easy as the had the engine out the car on a workbench !! Think I might wait untill the Spring then try doing it .

I put my new Gtx oil in today so the engine is sounding a bit quieter anyway , I did have a look at the spraybar when I had the cover off and it all looks fine I am sure when the last owner fitted the new cam the must have used a kit as all the parts look in good nick . Thanks again :cheers:
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