valve / shims / etc.

[polachm@cadvision.com]

After a little hesitation I went ahead and did the clearance check thing. It really is quite straight forward and I would recommend any one with basic skills and tools to do their own. Be sure and clear as much space as possible above the valve cover to facilitate its removal. I ended up loosening the top bolt on the right side of the cooling system, removing the fan assemblly, them loosening the left side of the cooling system, and also an ignition cluster of wires on the right side. (Actually a lot simpler than it sounds...pretty self evident when you do the job...) I needed all the clearance I could get to allow the valve cover to clear the cam chain etc. Be especially carefull when removing the cam caps. There is a cylindrical insert in each bolt hole. When you are lifting off the caps the inserts may stay in the head, or stay in the cam cap itself OR they may just drop out and fall away. They are quite small and if you are not aware, could possibly dissappear into the inner depths of the motor. The shims themselves sit in a rotating cup. This cup does have a notch to facilitate the removal of the shim. A sharp instrument will easily rotate the cup. (initially I did not see the notch and tried to pry the shim directly out of the cup...almost impossible!) tweezers grab the shims easily and inserting them is quite easy. I did not need to actually remove the cams to get at the shims. If you are carefull you can simply prop up the cams leaving the teeth engaged in the cam chain and then you don't have be concerned with retiming the cams. That too is quite evident when you are actually doing the work. There is a clear chart for replacement shims in the manual and provided your dealer has the parts ..its a nice little project.. hands on . and you are saving yourself a few dollars' Go for it! Cheers Martin Polach (off to Vancouver tomorrow on my new Gripmasters)