24 replies to this topic

[DeadSquare]

Depends I think on what side you need to shim.. If its between the split pin washer and rocker then use you can do it in situ.. if you need to shim the other side of the rocker (if you get my drift) the rocker would need to slide off the shaft and to do that you would need to release the push rod from the rocker.... you may be lucky and have just enough adjustment there to fully loosen the rocker ball... remove the nut totally and fully unscrew the adjuster and see if the ball pops out off the push rod. I wouldn't leaver the push rod though tempting as this may be or you might bend it

 

 

Apply pressure on the valve cap and depress the spring to release the rocker.

 

I was once asked to look over a 60,000 mile prospective Mini purchase, and when I removed the oil filler cap to see if it was white and yucky inside, it was stuffed full of old nylon tights to deaden the sound of unserviced tappet clearance.

[MiniMadRacer]

Good shout Dead on depressing the cap - didn't think of that

[DeadSquare]

Good shout Dead on depressing the cap - didn't think of that

 

To misquote the Bible, I'm  "Casting pearls of wisdom before ignorant swine"   Lol

 

By inserting a little block under the valve through the plug hole, with the piston at TDC, I used to push the rockers aside and fit double valve springs.

[dmandan]

so, minisport asked for some photos of the play on rocker shaft then said "oh sorry, there's a chance the hole for split pin is off a little" bloody great precision engineering there! then they send me the exact same washer that's already on the shaft which clearly aint gonna reduce the gap.

 

haven't tracked down the right sized washer yet so not really any update

[DeadSquare]

so, minisport asked for some photos of the play on rocker shaft then said "oh sorry, there's a chance the hole for split pin is off a little" bloody great precision engineering there! then they send me the exact same washer that's already on the shaft which clearly aint gonna reduce the gap.

 

haven't tracked down the right sized washer yet so not really any update

 

Is there enough length on the shaft to drill holes at right angles, further along the shaft ?

[dmandan]

you mean rotate by 90deg and drill crosswise to the existing hole, there is but i'd prefer to avoid pulling the head off again and tackling the job with my cheapo press drill, easier to pop a wider washer in right?

[DeadSquare]

you mean rotate by 90deg and drill crosswise to the existing hole, there is but i'd prefer to avoid pulling the head off again and tackling the job with my cheapo press drill, easier to pop a wider washer in right?

 

Oh yes, much easier to pack it with a washer, so long as there is still room for a washer between the rocker and the split pin.

 

A new hole doesn't have to be at 90 deg (I put that for ease of example).  With the rocker removed, I recon that provided you made a good punch mark, you could use a pistol drill in situ at 45 deg.

[dmandan]

hmm good idea, guess you'd need to be super careful about dropping the bits of metal in to the engine though right?

[DeadSquare]

hmm good idea, guess you'd need to be super careful about dropping the bits of metal in to the engine though right?

 

Nah.

 

Carefully rotating it & waggling it, pull the push rod, plug it with a greasy tissue, put a bit of greasy rag under the exposed end of the rocker shaft with one of those tiny high power magnets in the folds, mop up all round, just in case, with the tiny magnet in a greased tissue.

[dmandan]

So a very kind mini owner i met today had the exact same problem and happened to have a pack of shimms left over from fixing his own rocker issue. Slipped 1.15mm of shim behind the washer on the end of assembly and hey presto it sounds great....

Only ran for a few minutes in my garage but will 'pop to the shop' later to see how it sounds at moderate (very high) revs....

Happy!