Finally got around to doing the valve work I've been putting off. They felt sloppy when I was driving, and oil leaked out of the cover in a few areas (one of the holes was stripped so the bolt wouldn't get tight, probably the culprit)..

Anyway, pulled off the cover and spent a good while pulling off the gunky cork gasket, and quickly found that the nut who last messed with these severely over-torqued the bolts (by like 100 lbs) which made the job much harder. They were indeed sloppy, much too tight in fact, as too be expected. Much longer and I probably would've burned them. Did some work on the threading so the bolt would tighten. Then, the new gasket turned out to be a dud. Broke out of the box, and split totally in half when applied. Silicone saved the day, but I needed to add washers to get them tight enough without the thickness of the gasket. Probably will seal better anyway. All in all, the car feels/sounds more responsive, and the exhaust putter on deceleration has been reduced, learned a little and am glad too see the train itself is in good shape.

On a side note, would you guys recommend running Lucas upper cylinder lubricant in these engines? My understanding is that they were designed for leaded gasoline and need additives to prevent wear on the valves.

And I probably shouldve asked before I started, but spec is .010 and .012, correct? The engine was warm, but not hot by the time I was able to get at it.

I would recommend a cold lash. It is too hard to get all the valves dead nut perfect hot. I would to 0.008/0.010 cold. That way all the valves are uniform temp and at the very least you get some consistency.

The last time i removed the valve cover I bought a new gasket and received a sealed but empty box from the auto parts store. I took it back and nobody believed me, but they exchanged it anyway.

On a side note the opinion of myself and several other mechanic types on this forum are that good reputable oils have successfully replaced zinc as an anti-wear additive with whatever synthetic magic they use now. If you don't want to believe that you can use certain types of diesel motor oil that still contain zinc or an additive. Lucas in general makes nice stuff and that particular lubricant will help remove gunk and sludge so if it makes you happy go ahead and toss it in but I don't think its necessary.

I also agree with Zedyone about the cold lash. Every motorcycle I have ever worked on called for cold lash adjustment and they are way more sensitive than cars are. I would rather have valves within spec and perfectly consistent than having some valves tight and others loose. You can always double check your work by adjusting cold and then checking again while hot.

I also work on small bikes, and adjust valve clearence when engine is cold.

Edited February 28, 201312 yr by bartsscooterservice