Noisy Tappets

Hi all,

My R has always had noisy tappets and it hasn't really bothered me that much but I wanted to know how much it would roughly be to get the issue sorted out. Do people still use the shimming method using feeler gauges or what's people advise?

Could do with getting a rough idea on price as would like to get the car running as good as it can.

I think shims are availble but on long back order ..... so feeler gauge method seems to be the way ..... cant remember but bob was saying about another method using gauges not sure if he has carried on with that ....

Yes changed method a little and now use engineers tempered blades or shmplate, it does work contrary to belief as many will verify but we always use correct shims if we have the right sizes in stock

Car with fmic £250
Tmic £300

Wasnt the new method placing the cut blade in another place bob i remember reading on a thread possibly pete (moley ) .....

Shims are available aftermarket too but still means a wait & extra cost.
For proper built engine I go the hassle of proper sized shims, for more average engine setting with shims made from decent quality blades is perfectly fine & I have rechecked & inspected shims after 6K miles with no issues found.
I've done at least 5 54C's with blade shims & never had a problem, one being my own run around which been fine and tappy noise free since done about 3yrs back.
Done well it perfectly good & been used on a lot of engines before the 54C .

nomad wrote:Wasnt the new method placing the cut blade in another place bob i remember reading on a thread possibly pete (moley ) .....

Yes was some who shim the rocker via pivot bolt but I don't like that method.

That was it b couldnt remember exactly where it was .... why dont you like this method whats the difference ????

I've done the gash feeler method too, it does work fine but I still see it as a temporary fix, I'm going to order proper shims next winter.

Thing really is with doing it properly is time as need to be measured then ordered.

I don't see blade shimming as that gash. If cut neatly & to size & don't go to thin on shim it perfectly good for thousands of miles & some serious track use & red lining from my experience.
Main reason I've done them that way is due to delay in sourcing shims & when add cost plus delay most people happy go for blade shims.
If building a decent engine or working on an expensive one then new shims are probably best but difference is negligible as depth the shim-bucket is lifted on the valve is fraction of a millimeter & is highly unlikely cause shim-buckets to fly off any different than standard.
Most issues with valve gear are through wear/old springs, bad assembly & using bad cam to spring harmonics.
@nomad Thing I don't like about shimming the rocker is you balancing the clearance between the 2 valves on the rocker & rocker runs tilted which bad & part reason they spit out - break shim-buckets, doing it original way via shims in the buckets allows far more accurate clearances to be set for each valve & for the rocker to sit flat with cam on the contact pad.

shimming cap buckets is a perfectly acceptable way to set clearances, oem in some instances especially on motorbikes.

What is gash is cutting up bits of feeler gauge, work's fine and currently running quite happily in my car but it's still gash.

What I would say if using feelers is to check them after a few hundred miles as they do squish down a bit.

What tends to happen with most people cutting the blades is the shim is not flat,
I press mine out so flat plus use quality blade.

GTI-R US wrote:Yes changed method a little and now use engineers tempered blades or shmplate, it does work contrary to belief as many will verify but we always use correct shims if we have the right sizes in stock

Car with fmic £250
Tmic £300

That's great information guys thanks for all the input. I have no problems with this method and cba with ordering shims etc.

I will get in touch Bob as just put a replacement turbo on the car so sorting it out tomorrow and see about getting it done

yes this debate as a bodge will go on for ages lol
yes if you go by the book it is technically a lash up theres no doubting that.

but if done properly and using the right material it does work and shims will stay correct for thousands of miles.
my track engines covered 3000 miles of being caned and shim clearances are still spot on and you don't get a harder proving ground than on a race track.

if you have or can get hold of correct size shims then fit them you would be crazy not to!
but if not available then either use the car with noisy loose shims at risk of throwing a rocker or garage the car until you get them which could be ages lol

the initial thread I did years ago was done to help people out of a situation I had an answer for at the time, many many people have either done their own cars and weve done a fair few over the years.
if it didn't work do you honestly think they would be fitted in my engine which cost me a hell of a lot of money and time to build............don't think so

so its a pointless debate really

Not intended to be a debate bob or Mr B. Gash or not I would stand by it as a good and cheap method of sorting clearances and would do it again.

It saved me a lot of hassle last year which I am thankfull for, gash doesn't necessarily mean bad.  

If you have the time then shims are always available in all sizes from precision shims in Oz.