No valve clearance!

Well I have just got my valve and seats ground so they will seat properly. But now, even with 2.20 mm shims, i have no clearance on any of my valves. I did some searching and found that this can be caused by the valve stems not being ground with the rebuild. I also found that i can grnd of a maximum of 3mm. First i am going to try the 2.05 mm shims to see if i have some clearance but if i dont how do i know how much to grind off each valve stem? :S 1mm, 2mm, or just have them take off 3mm?

I was just looking at valve job stuff last night and the valves need to be ground most if not all of the time when you use the old seats. I'm not sure how much needs to be taken off the stem but I'm sure someone will chime in.

It depends who does your valve work. If the job's done right you only need to swap 2-3 sizes smaller on the shim. If the job's hacked who knows. I've only had 3 valve jobs in my life, 2 were hacked, one was good. What a joy when the job is done correctly.

I had to get my valve stems ground after the machine work was done to the head.
I can't remember how much was removed,but yes,that's what you have to do.
I also had the keepers shaved off a bit too,to keep them from bottoming out.

What really pissed me off,was that I had sent my whole shim supply with the head,and I explained to the manager of the machine shop about the clearances,but I still had that issue.(Moroff)
I am now back to where the mid-range shims work,and I have had no issues with my motor,with the mods done to it.

Shop manual says .3 mm max cut off on end of valve for a KZ1000, I dont know about 750's. Put a big shim in and see what you have and go from there. Problem is removing the cams each time

jmargrav wrote:

Well I have just got my valve and seats ground so they will seat properly. But now, even with 2.20 mm shims, i have no clearance on any of my valves. I did some searching and found that this can be caused by the valve stems not being ground with the rebuild. I also found that i can grnd of a maximum of 3mm. First i am going to try the 2.05 mm shims to see if i have some clearance but if i dont how do i know how much to grind off each valve stem? :S 1mm, 2mm, or just have them take off 3mm?

The guy who did my head made precise measurements of valve height before he tore the head apart and then ground the new valve ends to match the same height. He was within one shim size on the final result. Whoever did yours should have done something like that.

FYI, assume that you have zero clearance now and subtract to get center range on your shim sizes and that should get you to a point where you can find shims to work.

jmargrav wrote:

I also found that i can grnd of a maximum of 3mm.

My FSM says the max is 0.3mm (about.012" ) The spec means total cut off the end. Don't assume the valves have never been ground unless they are new.

wow, thanks for the responses! I should have known when the guy doing the work told me he has never worked on any motorcycle stuff! But any way, I know he did not take measurements before the work because i have moved down from a 2.55 mm to a 2.20 mm shim and still have no clearance. I had to check to see if any of the local shops had shims on hand I could buy, but no luck. SO I will just order my shims from Z1 right now and hopfully get some clearence with the 2.05 mm shims! And I am almost positive that my motor has never been opened up, the only mods the PO made to my bike were hack jobs to the wiring!

jmargrav wrote:

I should have known when the guy doing the work told me he has never worked on any motorcycle stuff! But any way, I know he did not take measurements before the work because i have moved down from a 2.55 mm to a 2.20 mm shim and still have no clearance.

He must have thought he was drilling for oil when he was running the seat reamer. Sounds like he cut them DEEP.

RonKZ650 wrote:

It depends who does your valve work. If the job's done right you only need to swap 2-3 sizes smaller on the shim. If the job's hacked who knows. I've only had 3 valve jobs in my life, 2 were hacked, one was good. What a joy when the job is done correctly.

You have obviously not seen many of these old KZs with ther seats and valve faces beat to death. Takes more than a "few shim sizes" to get it right again

Jay

jmargrav wrote:

I should have known when the guy doing the work told me he has never worked on any motorcycle stuff!

Man I wish I had a dollar for everytime a guy with a screwed up cylinder has said that.

I can't figure out why anyone would take their cylinder head to a shop that doesn't know how to work on them. Bet you got an automotive type valve job for your money.



Here is the $17.00 solution to your problem

kzzone.com/cams.html


By the way. You can send us the head and we will return it shimable.

Jay

APE Jay wrote:

I can't figure out why anyone would take their cylinder head to a shop that doesn't know how to work on them. Bet you got an automotive type valve job for your money.
Jay

The smart thing I did was to go to the local kawi dealer and weasel the name of the machine shop that they use out of one of their mechanics.... did not want to trust a fool with the head.