valve lash range question

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seanjuan

Senior Member
I'm about to start adjusting the valve lash after installing new cams and was wondering what the difference is in the range of the setting

for the intake it is between 15 and 19... so 17 would be the natural selection
the feeler guages I have don't have a 17 so I have to pick either 16 or 18
is there an advantage to haveing more or less clearance when adjusting the lash?
it seams like if the gap were smaller it would open the valve more... so is there more power to me make my setting the gap to 15?

I did some searching on here and couldn't find any threads about this so I thought I'd post up

thanks
 
Less clearance creates more valve lift, which creates more power. But the downside is you are more likely to float a valve at high rpms. In any case, I'd use the .16 feeler.
 
would the same go for the exhaust side then?
I do have a .19 feeler that would put the exhaust right in the center but I could also do .18 to have it a little closer

I'm keeping the stock rev limit so I shouldn't have to worry about floating a valve... I don't think

thanks
 
I would hit the middle of the range if possible. You won't gain or lose significant power or suddenly start floating valves keeping it within the specified range. Its people that squeeze it to .010 instead of .016 that have valve floating problems.. Too lose and you have mad noise.

Anywhere in the range will work fine.. I like tighter clearances because thats just something that I do. I'm sure I couldn't tell you the difference between a .016 spaced valve to a .018 spaced valve while driving down the road.
 
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from my past experience you should go with the smalles setting in the range. i have checked the valves on many ne stock motors with 30-60k on them and the valves are tighter than the spec by .002-.003 so i just always use the smallest in the range.
 
from my past experience you should go with the smalles setting in the range. i have checked the valves on many ne stock motors with 30-60k on them and the valves are tighter than the spec by .002-.003 so i just always use the smallest in the range.


doesn't that mean they are out of spec on the low side... wouldn't that be an argument for starting with a looser setting so that 30k later they are still in spec?
 
no that dosent things dont get tighter as they wear. this just means that they are set tight from the factory probaly so that they are quiet and dont need adujstment for a long time.
 
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