Time to replace valve adjust eccentrics

[7502]

I'm planning on replacing the valve adjust eccentrics and nuts.  I've already procured the nuts after I bought the car, but would like to pick up new eccentrics and do the job right. What are the opinions if any, on  the different manufacturers. Blunt has genuine BMW for $7.21 ea, but they also have Febi for $4.49 and Laso for $5.12.  Any real differences on these puppies, do you get what you pay for?  I decided to replace my old ones since my first valve adjustment only seemed to last a few thousand miles before some of them loosened up on me. After the adjustment the car sounds and runs noticeable better.  Oh, it a base model '75. Thanks Eric

[Mike Self]

Are you sure you haven't run out of adjustment?  If you have a high mileage engine, there can be enough wear in the valve train so that the proper clearance can't be achieved.  That happened on my '69 fairly early in life because the early cars didn't have bushed rocker arms, and the rockers wore the rocker shafts.  I had a local shop make me some .040 oversize adjusters and case harden 'em.  That did the trick.  

 

I think Ireland makes oversize adjusters.  I don't quite understand why yours are loosening up; properly tightened they shouldn't.  Have you checked for wear either on the shafts or rocker arms themselves?

 

mike

[TobyB]

It's my fault, Mike-

I noticed that, on eccentrics that don't get adjusted

often enough, they get a flat on them.  Then, when you

adjust them, the resultant point tends to be noisy on the valve stem, and it wears

rapidly.

Thus, I've started replacing them when there's a flat.  For $5 a pop,

it seems to make for a quieter, easier- to- maintain engine.

That said, if you adjust your valves every so often, it doesn't seem to happen as much.

 

t

Who would use, in order, Laso, Febi, BMW, because you'll most likely find that BMW is rebadged Febi.

And sometimes Laso is still Western European.  Febi, sadly, less and less each year.

 

t

 

[worzella]

Hi - not sure who makes them, but Top End Performance has them for $2.50... might be worth a call to 

cut your "huge" bill in half... ha ha.

 

BavAuto has them for mid $4 price also, but again not sure who they sell.

[7502]

I can't say that I've "run out of adjustment" it's more like the correct spot for the 0.07" gap was at times real difficult to locate. Maybe there was a flat spot!  I'm just trying to rule out the eccentrics themselves as the cause.

Perhaps I failed to tighten the nuts a much as I should have last time. I'll go with the Febi and my new nuts and see how they perform. I can say adjusting the valves on the M10 is a whole lot easier than laying down on my side while twisting and reaching up to do the VW type 1 engine and then getting up to turn the motor each repeat,,,,

ps. drove down to Seattle and back this morning, cruising with traffic on I5, even stayed in the fast lane at 70+ mph for extended periods of time the car performed excellently, it was a nice drive.

[Son of Marty]

As Toby said once they start to wear your feeler gauge will span the wear gap and you think you've set it at 0.07 but the gap gives you that plus the depth of the wear point. 

[Son of Marty]

Also before you start plug the oil drain holes on the head with a rag to prevent small parts you may drop from going down the holes they as surprisingly good at hitting them. A small mechanics magnet the kind sized to go in your pocket protector will be handy if you drop anything.