Valve questions

[windfish]

Two quick questions on valves..
I got this engine ('71 1600 DP) off craigslist, it had been reportedly gone through somewhat recently. I had a local mechanic set the carb and valves so I had a good starting point. Today I pulled the valve covers for the first time, went though and reset all the valves to .006 inches. Most were just a little tight, but none terrible.

First, how much should I expect to hear the valves?
I don't know if they're louder now than before or not, ears say yes but realistically probably not. I think on an aircooled vw engine you're just going to hear them, but just making sure. Here's a real short vid -


Link


Second, the base is a bit pitted by cylinder 4's valves. I noticed that corner of the cover was damp with oil, not dripping but you could tell there was some very minor seepage.

For now I just put on a new gasket. Thinking about picking up some gasket maker to help smooth that area, anything else I can/should do for it?

[windfish]

Will bump this once..
Figured it would be an easy one -- a "yeah, that's normal" or a "naw, that's too much noise."
May pop the covers off again tomorrow and double check anyways.

This is my first and only aircooled vw engine so I don't really have a baseline.
Making sure there is a gap, even six thousandths of an inch, means there should be some noise regardless since metal will contact metal, right?

[Samer1275]

As long as engine was dead cold when you adjusted to 0.006" you should be fine. I'm certainly no expert on engine sound but it sounds OK to me.
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1969 Karmann Ghia Coupe

[Mr.Duncan]

Sounds good to me.

You will allways get a little seepage on the valve covers.
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[Brian]

sounds okay, and you should be able to spin the push rods when both valves are closed. Slightly loose will make noise, too tight will burn your valve. Which do you prefer?
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Wash your hands

'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper

Only losers litter

[Danwvw]

Yeah that sounds good to me! What you don't want is one that stands out louder than the others. I set mine a tight 4 thousandths on the intake and a tight 6 thousandths on the exhaust!
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1960 Beetle And 1679cc DP W-100 & Dual Zeniths!

[gp98]

sounds good, vw good.
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1972 Super Beetle
1961 Dune Buggy,2010 Larz Anderson Class Winner
1971 BSA Lighting
1969 tin top westy

[windfish]

I'm perfectly fine with some valve noise if it's supposed to be there, just a little nervous about screwing up this engine doing somthin' dumb.

Cheers guys.

[zak414]

Haha...I thought about saying it sounded alright, but only because that's how mine sounds and it works for me. I feel like I don't truly know enough about the condition of my engine to give others an opinion on how their's is running.
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1962 Bug
40 HP Engine
28 Pict Carb rebuilt by Volkzbitz
Big Cap Distributor rebuilt by Tasb

[Mr.Duncan]

[Brian]

[DeathTrap]

go tighten the exhaust nuts

should assemble with never seize stuff and tighten as many heat cycles as it takes to seat the gaskets

it's usuall exhaust leaks

get the siphon hose to your ear while you poke around with the other end

you'll hear it