Valve lash

April 04, 2010, 11:21:41 PM

OKay, took some pics of my 2.3. Long story short, I pulled it from my Merkur as it was rattling badly as it revved up, but smoothed out @2k RPM. I have it on a stand and the bottom end looks good. I was told the head was rebuilt, so I checked timing which looked spot on. I check the valve clearance today and want to know if I did it correctly. I dont have a gauge to measure the top of the cam lobe so i kinda pointed it straight up best i could, then compressed the HLA. I then shoved a feeler gauge in between the compressed HLA and base of the cam to measure the gap. All of them are LESS than spec so I am thinking that the head was milled?? The closest I could get on my feeler gauges was .041, and it wouldn't fit under any lobe. There is no wear on the cam lobes and the HLA's are new. The followers dont seem to be worn either. Can anyone tell by the pic which type head it is? Stock or n/a? Next is to pull the head and take it to a machine shop.

Valve lash

Reply #1 – April 05, 2010, 11:07:57 AM

well the head is a stock D port, weather its a true turbo or NA head, I would need the casting numbers off of it

if the head has been rebuilt, you may have the wrong valve tip height, AREA has the wrong specs listed and has for years.

milling the head will have nothing to do with the lash adjustment, since the head is ohc and not a push rod engine.