[Guest]

I have adjusted valve clearances on motorcycles and cars before. I have used the dealer and I have ground the shims too. How have the Toyota dealers been to work with on swapping shims to get the ones you need? I had a valve job done and most of the valves are too close by 4 to 8 thousandths. Since I don't have the tool to hold the bucket down, I thought I would just measure them all, pull the cams out, reuse the shims I can and swap for the ones I need. It is Sunday, otherwise I would have called the dealer.

Thanks

 

[chevyeater-on-sf]

I doubt the local Toyota dealer is going to swap you anything, unless you know someone there. I dunno, maybe that is just the way it works here in NY. Call 'em up tomorrow.

 

[ma71supraturbo]

There was a shim bag circulating through the SOGI email list -- it basically had various sizes in there -- you picked the ones you need, and left yours in return (then mailed it to the next guy in your boat)

 

[Bishop92T]

You're probably going to be SOL in La, most of the dealers around here are stupid and/or pricks. There's a machine shop in Baton Rouge and one in Slidell that both have a decent size selection of shims. You could always go to a junkyard and look for any 7m head (Supra or Cressida) and just pull all the shims off of it.

 

[p5150]

machine shops should charge ~3 bucks a shim while toyota will chagre ~20. I talked to one of their mechanics though, and he let me swap shims with him.

 

[76celicagt]

could someone explain the shimming process?

 

[ma71supraturbo]

you measure the valve lash -- if any are out of spec (OOS), you make a note of by how much they are out. Then you either pull out the cams, or use a special tool to access and remove the shims from the buckets of the valves that are OOS.

You measure the thickness of the OOS shim and calculate what the new thickness must be to get the valve back in spec. Sometimes you can just swap shims between OOS valves and get everything within Toyota's rather generous range, but often you'll need to replace them at $3-$5 each

 

[Guest]

Shims.

Ok, well then I will ask, how do I find about the shim bag, that sounds like a great idea and second, are the 2 valve per cyl cars like the Cressida or any with the 2 valve engines have the same size buckets? If so then that is a great option also. I wasn't sure if the non 24 valve per cyl six cyl engines had the same sive shim/bucket combination. If so, great!

Russ

 

[ma71supraturbo]

Re: Shims.

Ok, well then I will ask, how do I find about the shim bag, that sounds like a great idea and second, are the 2 valve per cyl cars like the Cressida or any with the 2 valve engines have the same size buckets? If so then that is a great option also. I wasn't sure if the non 24 valve per cyl six cyl engines had the same sive shim/bucket combination. If so, great!

Russ

I'm not sure what other cars had the same shims, but I believe the 22r did. Regardless they are common enough to be in stock in any machine shop that does significant import work.


For the SOGI thing, I'd go to www.supras.com click on SOGI, then "search the archives" (link is on the right side of the page I believe). search for "shims" or maybe "valve shims" and maybe you'll luck out and see who has them (if that bag is still in circulation).

Personally, I wouldn't want to wait for that bag to make its way to me -- I'd just buy the 4-5 shims you'll likely need from a machine shop ($15-$25)

 

[p5150]

I recommend checking the valve lash after the head is installed and torqued. Your clearances may change a bit if you do it before the head is installed. In addition, set your clearances at least .004 more open than the spec if its a newly remanufactured head. valves tend to seat a bit. consider more clearance if you have upgraded springs

Always give the camshaft a few good turns before you check the clearances. This is a non-interference motor so dont worry about hitting the pistons. The few turns of the camshaft will properly seat the buckets, the shims in the buckets, and allow you to get a correct measurement.

 

[turbotoy]

Lots of shops have fixtures for grinding them, that's probably the cheapest and fastest approach. The 22R valvetrain is a rocker setup - it doesn't even use shims.

I agree, aim for the high side of the tolerance - too loose is much better than too tight.

I got ahold of the SOGI shim assortment when I did my head - I had to go by a bunch of shims anyway as there were very few thin shims left.

 

[76celicagt]

22r's dont use them, theyve got a rocker assembly and a screw/lock nut setup