CRG

Today finished my first DIY'er valve adjustment. Last one was done by a shop at 92K the car now has 157K, didnt hear much ticking but because of the mileage I figured I'd give it a try. Not that bad of a DIY'er overall. I was very concerned about doing it myself but I held my breath, beared down until I felt my second nut drop then felt I had the confidence to get it done. Actually the hard part was taking all the crap off in order to get to the valves. Also had to adjust the damn secondary dizzy. I put a new belt on back in Jan and I guess it jumped a tooth or two on the belt because it was about 1.5 inches off TDC so I took the thing apart and put it back on the money, that was a real PITA.
The most concerning part was the dreaded "feel" of the feeler gauge, since I've never done this before I was a bit concerned I'd get them too loose, but I cant hear any ticking so I guess I did OK. The #3 and #6 intakes took some time to get the feeler in but once you find the right position you can get in in all day. Another concern was over tighting of the valve cover nuts because I dont have a torque wrench, but I gues I did that OK too since I dont seem to have any leaks. I was close to trying the backside method but opted for the traditional tried and true old school feeler gauge method.
Quite honestly the biggest royal PITA was that I had to drop the muffler because I had to monkey with the rear bumper, so I took it off. So I had the entire exhaust off. Putting that damn thing back by yourself is a serious PITA X 10!
Anyhows, the actual valve adjust was not that big of a deal. Anyone who is considering this DIY'er should just do it, you can look at all the threads, pictures, etc but at some point in time you have to start taking **** off the car and when you do you quickly figure out it's not that bad a job.
Now having said all this I havent had the car on the road yet, in the garage running for about 10 minutes up to 5k RPM's it seems OK, no leaks or noise.
Bottomeline: If you think you can do the adjust- do it, if you think you can replace the dizzy belt- do it. You may just surprise yourself.
Craig

gotta go, there is another celabratory beer calling me from the kitchen!

993c2cab

*****. thats all I have to say about that. Oh and nice work.

ducnine

Good Job. Maybe next time I will try mine too.

pete000

Im on the fence on this job. I have the secondary already off the under tray off. I pulled the cat and primary off one already. Should be no probelm getting to the valves if that was the hard part. I ordered all the gaskets for the job. Figured I would replace the plugs while I am in there too. What do the shops generaly charge for this ?

parsecnc4

If you need a helping hand or willing to entertain an observer, I would be available.

pete000

Order up some gaskets and plugs from the Pelican or whom ever and bring it over we could do both in the same day !

parsecnc4

That's a deal... I'll PM you for arrangements.

garrett376

Not to put a damper on your plans... just don't forget your car has to sit for about 1 day to get COLD before attempting the adjustment...

CraigC

Im getting up nerve to do mine too. I was quoted $800 for a full tune up which includes the valve adjust.
I have all the parts on my workbench now Im just waiting for it to cool off a little before starting. Id rather work in a 70deg garage than 120deg. Its hot in Texas in the summer! Glad you had good success, gives me a little more courage.

MisterRisky

That's the funniest thing I have read this morning. I'm going to work that expression into conversation at work today.

Good job on the valve adjustment. I am going to do that this winter. But I have to get my Ford out of the garage first! Luckily my wife understands that happiness is a vehicle in the garage up on jack stands.

parsecnc4

Thanks for the heads-up. Did not even think about that, but it makes perfectly logical sense.

TR6

I wonder if all the mechanics out there that do valve adjustments on these cars know this. I'm honestly trying to remember now whether my mechanic let mine sit overnight first. I know it was at his shop for more than one day, but I don't know when he did the valve adjustment. And I would bet that almost all mechanics start the car up to move it onto the lift just before starting to work on it. They may let it sit an hour of so for the exhaust to cool. Most shops don't have the luxury of letting a car sit on the lift for a long time when other cars are waiting.

swmic

Craig - love your confidence gauge!!

I did my first adjustment a couple of months ago. As Craig said, it's not that bad once you get all the crap out of the way. I did mine measuring the gap at the cam lobe and checking the gap at the valve end. It seemed much easier doing it this way. There is a lot written on it if you do a search. I also read you don't even have to drain any oil out if you do one side at a time with that side of the car elevated.

Shawn

ilko

What do you mean one side at a time? Don't you have to turn the engine and adjust the valves according the cylinder firing order?

CRG

I left mine open overnight before I adjusted. Before you try this read all the threads, I went step by step from Adrians book. The adjustment nuts were pretty tight on mine so I tighten them back up pretty tight, seeing as the last adjust was 60k miles ago and only a few needed tighting. That may be the key to prolonging the scheduled adjustments, wrench them puppies down nice and tight.

Shawn, I read your post and was going to give the backside method a try but I didnt see too much on this method with 964's. So I went it old school on it.

One thing I know about my car and every other swinging richard who owns a 911, there is a huge placebo factor. A guy puts new air in his tires and claims 5hp, you change the oil and it "feels" faster, turn the radio off and it quicker, etc.

btw- I took it out and it runs like a scalded ape. (go figure)

Craig