RE: valve shims

[Hirsch <Catenary@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Matt Danning wrote:
> I'm in the unenviable position of needing valve shims that are
> thinner than available from stock. I have seen many older Alfas
> with shims that have been ground thinner, but Im thinking there
> must be something from some other car that is available.

My 1600 GTV with Euro 2L cams has some ground shims. I think the
thinnest is about 1.37mm, where 1.50mm is the thinnest factory
shim available. One of the other shims needed to be made a bit
thinner to give better valve clearance and I was surprised how
easily I was able to reduce its size, since the shims should be
hardened. After about 5-10min work I was able to reduce a shim's
size from something like 1.40mm to 1.38mm. I used 240 wet/dry paper
as abrasize with WD40. To hold the shim I modified a small block
of wood by drilling a shallow hole to hold the shim. Obviously,
the shim must be ground carefully so the top and bottom surfaces
remain parallel.

Good luck,

Rich

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