Water Head Valve Adjustment

Just got the tapered metric feeler gauges from Len, took 1 business day on regular shipping, very pleased. Read the thread on air heads but I know the water are more of a pita. Before I start tearing into the top end is there anything I seriously need to know? Do the cams have bearings that I should replace while I'm in there? I don't have any calipers or micrometers to check sizes but I could probably afford some plastigage. I have to take the carbs off to get to the tensioner? I thought I read somewhere that a guy did this all without taking the cams out by being careful, loosening some of the cam caps and removing others and tilting the cams out diagonally. Thoughts? All answers appreciated in advance.

 

Oh, do I need a torque wrench? I lost my old one.

 

hey, first of all, great bike you got there. Post some pics, we love em.
To do a valve check, you do not need the tensioner removed. Do that when you need the camshaft removed. And yes, to remove the tensioner, you have to remove the carbs. That can be hard if they have never been off since factory rollout. Just take it easy and they will come off. To replace the shims of a maxim waterhead you need to remove the camshafts. Shim lives under bucket, no way to get there with camshafts on. I did my checks and reassembly without a torque wrench. incredibly tight space anyway.

Whatever you do, take loads of pictures and make sure timing is correct on reassembly.

Good luck and have some fun.

 

Welcome to the group.

If you're doing your own work you'll soon find the need for a torque wrench. I ended up with three of them after finding the big one I'd stuck behind some boxes. The two smaller ones are in inch pounds & I got them at AutoZone but they're common enough. Of course you just multiply the inch pounds by 12 to get the foot pounds that the manual calls for but the auto click when the pressure is reached is nice, much better than the long torque wrench with the pointer you line up.

You'll find great advice here, it makes doing your own work not just possible but something very fun to do as well.

 

I had a torque wrench but I left it at my dad's place when I up ant moved 400 miles away and when I went back I couldn't find it. And I'm pretty sure the valve shims need replaced, its hard to start but rubs fine. I'm assuming the thing hasn't been checked in the 35,500 miles it has on it.

 

Needs lovin but I only paid $500 and I love a project.

 

dude, you got a steal.... the high back rest + engine guards will bring $250....

 

Found that the neutral safety switch has been bypassed.


And also found damage on the temperature gauge and headlight.

 

Well the good news is the measurements are in.....the bad news is 2/5ths are 0.



Means hopefully some of the shims (pads) are small enough to put it back together and get at least some sort of reading. Sigh

 

1. Does this valve cover gasket look reusable? Pretty well stuck on the valve cover, or is it too compressed?



2. Is this too much wear? Do I need a new camshaft or will this hold out?