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Wed Jun 30, 2010 5:48 am

I have a '67 fastback with a stock motor. The car was running rough so I setup for a valve adjustment. No issues adjusting cyl #'s 1, 2, and 4 but I ran into a new issue on #3.

For both the intake and exhaust on #3, I couldn't wedge the feeler gauge between the rocker and the end of the valve stem. Even with the adjuster/nut fully removed, the rocker and stem contact. It is set at TDC for #3 when I attempt this. Do I have a dropped valve issue? Cam issue? Seat issue?

Any thoughts?

dave.....

Wed Jun 30, 2010 8:19 am

Sounds like a bad head with loose valve seats.
Dont drive the car with it that way.

Sun Jul 25, 2010 8:16 pm

So I finally got a chance to dig into the T3 today. I thought the rear main seal was leaking badly (actually it's the tranny input seal) so I decided to pull the motor, check the clutch, replace a seal or two and try to find the source of my valve adjustment dilema.

After I got the motor on my stand, I went to pull the head and found five of the head-stud nuts only hand tight. After pulling the head, I found that the valves and seats look great but the head really took a beating against the end of the cylinder. So much of a beating that as it settled in it's compressed position, the head "sunk" thus causing the rockers to pinch against the end of the valve.

This car came to the midwest from Huntington Beach CA a few years back and I traded an old Porsche 912 for it. The previous owner told me that a local shop in CA did some maintenance on the car before he drove it back here. When I originally looked at the car, I checked numbers and the case number jives with the chassis number but it seems that the shop in CA replaced the heads with some really crappy rebuilt units. The head was welded between the seats, and reinforced against the spark plug hole but it had pits in the welds, really bad finishing in the combustion chamber and apparently, they didn't do a good job in reassembly. They replaced the clutch, PP, flywheel and rear main seal but didn't replaced the tranny input seal. Really, is a $3 seal that big of a deal to add on? Sheesh.

I'm taking the heads to a local VW shop for a spin on the mill then I'll do a valve job and reassmeble the motor. I'm getting excited to get back to driving this damn thing! My brother and I got into dragracing over the last few years (SFWD VW GTI), but we're in a slow spot in the season so I can jump on the fasty for a while.

I thought I'd post up what I found for future reference.

Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:46 am

If you fly cut those heads again, then you will need to adjust the compression ratio with shims under the barrels. And, you may need to put shims under the rockers arms before you are done, to adjust the rocker geometry.

Mon Jul 26, 2010 5:50 am

I've already taken that into consideration. Thanks for the reminder, though.

Sat Oct 11, 2014 4:23 pm

Similar symptoms here. I've gone in to do a valve adjustment on my 69 squareback daily driver and found I can get no clearance in the number 3 exhaust valve. Intake is ok.

I'm rather a newbie with this and don't feel confident enough to pull the engine and start poking around with no real direction.

Are there a few likely suspects for the cause that I can begin researching or ruling out?

Or, is there a way to get some temporary clearance for this valve in order to drive to my nearest VW mechanic?

Sat Oct 11, 2014 4:32 pm

kelloggm wrote:
Or, is there a way to get some temporary clearance for this valve in order to drive to my nearest VW mechanic?

In theory, you could shim the rocker arms and then take up the excess gap on all the other valves on that side.

But those few miles could destroy the engine if a valve that seems already stretched lets go.

Where in LA are you? Maybe there are those near you who could walk you through engine removal and stripping, and then let a shop do the heavy lifting.

Sat Oct 11, 2014 4:57 pm

That much uncertainty sounds like a good reason to tow the few miles over to my go to mechanic.

Thanks!