Shim kit for lifters in a 1g.

[John Hartman]

oh for gods sake, go get the right shims from Geoff!!

[Jordan Kruger]

lol!!!   he told to me to go to radioshack!!!   and I need to have my valve cover off for him to measure my cams.   ugh.  i shoulda just opened it up right there.   it woulda taken 2 min.   
before I do any more of this bullshit running around looking for shims....
How much could the lash adjusters compensate? Is there a chance I dont need shims at all??  I noted that in one location it was actually harder to get the rocker on.   due to the shim making it a really tight fit. and this is WHILE the cam lobe is straight up!   theres really no descriptive write ups on this problem.  My lifters may be shimmed to high!  and the click could be it bottoming out. 

[Brett Haviland]

Use a feeler gauge between the cam lobe and the rocker with NO shims installed.  The ones with more clearance then the others  will be the ones you want to shim

*i think....   I have no experience with shimming lifters

[Shawn Silva]

I would contact Jeff at Colt cams and give him the specs on the cams and he will be able to provide you with the correct shims for the cams.  Like Jordan is saying.

I thought I said that?

[Shawn Silva]

Once again, I will say that regrinds have no place in a performance motor.  Billet all the way.  Give this some serious thought with a pen and paper, your rocker geometry is thrown out the window with a shim or without.  It's a poor mans way of attempting success.  Sorry, that's reality, now go grab your ink and draw a diagram, it's grade 11 high school simple.


Shawn

[Jordan Kruger]

Some people have to work with what they've got. I didnt build the motor. Poor mans way or not, it needs to be dealt with. Its also my daily driver. I have to plan downtime. I totally agree that regrinds suck. But this is good for the people who have been stuck with someone elses work. Total rebuild pending. Brett - That method wouldnt work due to the fact that they are all technically going to be lower than they should be. The only way to guage this is to measure the cam.

[Shawn Silva]

Why should you measure the cam?  The grinder will supply the specs.  I've used lots of regrinds in my time, and the grinder will always tell you what it will take to make them work.  Pull the cams or use a mirror, get the profile # and make a phone call, you would be suprised at the info they will 'leak' to you.  Remember, the grinders want you to rave about their work, so they will do what it takes to make it right.  I can remember dealing with someone when they worked for Shadbolt, and we talked on the phone for extended periods of time on one of their grinds, even though it had changed hands more than once.

Have you done the research on the camshaft to see what timing has been 'ground into it' as well?  You would be suprised how well a couple degree's of advance/retard of cam timing will make or break a grind...


Shawn

[Jordan Kruger]

Im taking It to Geoff at Colt cams this week hopefully. Hes going to do all the appropriate shimming.

[John Hartman]

finally 

[Jordan Kruger]

lol   Im waiting for my mitsu lash adjuster removal tool to come in the mail.     I bought it for a total of 15 dollars from the uk. should be here any day now..    I havent had any problems replacing them before, but the tool makes it super easy.

[John Hartman]

dontcha need to take him the cams?  Or he knows the specs on them already?  If you need to pull the cams, there is no tool but your fingers needed 

[Jordan Kruger]

No, I dont see any reason to take the cams out. you can pretty much measure each lobe installed.  Seeing as its a regrind Ide imagine they they take a good amount of material off to change the duration from stock to 272's. I remember the shims that are under my lifters currently are roughly the width of a dime. Ive been told by my bud that its a sound that's a result of the shim not being large enough in one specific area. I know the exact lifter thats the problem. I noticed that someone had attempted to file the shim down to its proper width... Assuming it had been gapped correctly I re-used that shim.   D'OH!!!

[John Hartman]

actually, just to add duration, its not that much that comes off, but if you want a fair amout more lift or more lift and lots more duration, you may have to take off quite a bit.

Also stock for stock is not apples to apples.  For instance take a '90 auto cam and a 92 5spd turbo awd C and D grind set.  Those are vastly different cams to start with.  You could go hog wild with the C and D cams,and not need shims but with the wee little cams, you would need shims much sooner as there is just not as much material to play with.

[Remi Raymond]

As a point of interest, that car was originally an auto but I don't know if the cams were from the original engine or not.

[Jordan Kruger]

To follow up, I ended up measuring the cams myself with a caliper and compared to the stock cams base circle. I found that the shims were not sized correctly in only a couple lifter bores and I just used hardened washers which were the perfect width.

Stock cam base circle is 1.185"
My Reground 272 is 1.131"
so the shims needed to be .054"

I still have to go back in and do a more thorough job, but the lifters I dealt with are quite a lot quieter.