valve clearance's 1948 a7 longstroke engine.

[chicago]

hi there folks. my bike sounded a little taperty from the rocker boxes so i decided to check the valve clearances, in the haynes manual which arrived today it states.....
1947 to 1950 a7 and a10 models inlet 0.015in and exhaust 0.015in (the year of my engine)
1951 to 1954 a7 and a10 models inlet 0.010in and exhaust 0.010in (the year of my bike)
when i checked the clearances on the bike they were set to 0.010in 1951-1954 spec. so what i need to know is (1) would it have damaged the valves running the bike with the valves set to 0.010 instead of 0.015, and (2) if i do set the valves to 0.015 then surley it would make the bike sound even more taperty no ?. cheer's in advance fellas. take care and all the best, chicago

[muskrat]

 G'day Chicago. 15thou is right for yours. Doubt if any damage caused from 10thou, it may have propped the valves open a tad if it got really hot. Yes they might be a little louder at 15thou but at least you'll know what that one is  .
Cheers

[chicago]

15thou is right for yours

g'day mate, cheer's fella, 15thou it is then, well if a bit louder engine = cant hear the wife nagging on the back it will be a fair trade  . take care and all the best, chicago

[muskrat]

 As you may have read already, don't believe everything in the Haynes manual. It's very basic and doesn't cover all models, but it's better than nothing.
Cheers

[trevinoz]

Chicago,
                    The long stroke tappet covers/plugs have the clearance cast into them. [If you have the originals which are pretty hard to find.]

 Trev.

[Ron B]

Set them at .015", they are not very noisy at that clearance.  Make sure you are actually measuring the clearance.  Some of the valves or these engines were soft at the tappet end.  If a hard cap is not on the valve check for mushrooming on the valve ends.  These are great bikes, enjoy!

[chicago]

As you may have read already, don't believe everything in the Haynes manual. It's very basic and doesn't cover all models, but it's better than nothing.
Cheers

hi there muskrat, haynes manuals used to be good many years ago, they used to contain every detail you could ever want, they had really detailed drawings and loads of photos but nowadays it looks like they just rush them out. for instance, ive looked and looked in this manual of mine and i still cant find any torque rench settings for anything, maybe ive overlooked them but ive read it twice from page to page and still havnt spotted them.
does anybody know what the torque wrench setting is for the rocker cover nuts & bolts as i thought i might as well fix the leaking rocker box gasket before i set the tappets, when i took the rocker boxe's off i found a kelloges corn flake gasket had been used so no wonder it was leaking. all the best muskrat, chicago

[chicago]

Chicago,
                    The long stroke tappet covers/plugs have the clearance cast into them. [If you have the originals which are pretty hard to find.]

 Trev.

hi there trevinoz, i had a look but no numbers on mine so none originals, cheers anyway fella, all the best, chicago

[Triton Thrasher]

As you may have read already, don't believe everything in the Haynes manual. It's very basic and doesn't cover all models, but it's better than nothing.
Cheers

hi there muskrat, haynes manuals used to be good many years ago, they used to contain every detail you could ever want, they had really detailed drawings and loads of photos but nowadays it looks like they just rush them out. for instance, ive looked and looked in this manual of mine and i still cant find any torque rench settings for anything, maybe ive overlooked them but ive read it twice from page to page and still havnt spotted them.
does anybody know what the torque wrench setting is for the rocker cover nuts & bolts as i thought i might as well fix the leaking rocker box gasket before i set the tappets, when i took the rocker boxe's off i found a kelloges corn flake gasket had been used so no wonder it was leaking. all the best muskrat, chicago

1950s service sheets and manuals for most bikes had no torque figures, so I wouldn't blame Haynes for that. Nobody should need torque figures for rocker boxes.
There's not much wrong with corn flakes packet gaskets.

[chicago]

Set them at .015", they are not very noisy at that clearance.  Make sure you are actually measuring the clearance.  Some of the valves or these engines were soft at the tappet end.  If a hard cap is not on the valve check for mushrooming on the valve ends.  These are great bikes, enjoy!

hi there ron b, cheer's fella. i think they might have the caps on ?. heres a photo.

http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq110/chicargo/SDC17424.jpg

the tops of the valves look quite flat though.
im sure im going to love this bike as soon as i re-take my test and get on the open road with it . all the best fella, chicago

adm edit: photobucket thumbhails. See Forum Info

[chicago]

As you may have read already, don't believe everything in the Haynes manual. It's very basic and doesn't cover all models, but it's better than nothing.
Cheers

hi there muskrat, haynes manuals used to be good many years ago, they used to contain every detail you could ever want, they had really detailed drawings and loads of photos but nowadays it looks like they just rush them out. for instance, ive looked and looked in this manual of mine and i still cant find any torque rench settings for anything, maybe ive overlooked them but ive read it twice from page to page and still havnt spotted them.
does anybody know what the torque wrench setting is for the rocker cover nuts & bolts as i thought i might as well fix the leaking rocker box gasket before i set the tappets, when i took the rocker boxe's off i found a kelloges corn flake gasket had been used so no wonder it was leaking. all the best muskrat, chicago

1950s service sheets and manuals for most bikes had no torque figures, so I wouldn't blame Haynes for that. Nobody should need torque figures for rocker boxes.
There's not much wrong with corn flakes packet gaskets.

cheers triton thrasher, i just figured that with one side of the cornflake box being semi laminated it wouldnt have provided the best of seals ?. would it be an idea to re torque the head while ive got the rocker boxes off ?. and is it 35 pounds per square inch ? all the best, chicago.

[duTch]

Hiya Chicago, not sure of the head bolt figure, but it'll be in lb.ft for torque, pounds/sq.in is pressure,different application. In one of the factory books it gives a torque setting for something as 'really tight'....!

[a10 gf]

re torque the head

Now, don't know what applies to the long stroke, but here's a good general topic:
http://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php/topic,2452.0.html

More available, searching will give many hits (info: http://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php/topic,1352.0.html )

[chicago]

Hiya Chicago, not sure of the head bolt figure, but it'll be in lb.ft for torque, pounds/sq.in is pressure,different application. In one of the factory books it gives a torque setting for something as 'really tight'....!

hi there dutch,  silly me. cheers fella, all the best, chicago

[chicago]

re torque the head

Now, don't know what applies to the long stroke, but here's a good general topic:
http://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php/topic,2452.0.html

More available, searching will give many hits (info: http://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php/topic,1352.0.html )

hi there a10gf, cheer's fella. i decided to leave tightening the head bolts. the rocker covers went well though, i was dreading having to line up the push rod's when re-fitting the rocker boxe's but they went on like a dream. the front one went on first go and the rear one went on on the second attempt. i used a bit of wire to line up the rear push rod. simple's. the bike's now nice and oil tight on the top end  . all the best, chicago