Custom Shims

[Hard_Limitz]

Does anyone know a good machine shop to make custom shims for the KA24DE valvetrain? I am in southern california, but am willing to order from anywhere. JGY Customs quoted $50 per shim. I want to see if anyone local is cheaper without sacrificing quality. Thanks guys!

[deviousKA]

What kind of custom shims are you needing? Are you running a regrind cam? You need to be careful with a heavy regrind in the ka24de valvetrain, the bucket tops cannot hold a thicker shim as well as the original. Even though a regrind cam with a reduced base circle has a smaller lobe overall, with the thicker shim combined these setup can be as prone to throw shims as a a large (standard) basecircle cam with large lift. With the stock bucket size, you are limited to about .450" lift with standard basecircle before you will start throwing shims at high rpm. With a regrind and thicker shims, about the same.

You can use select volvo and bmw motorcycle flat tappet shims to custom fit to the ka24de. If your out price searching and looking at any sort of a new retailer price, your not going to find them cheap. BMw offered some bmw mechanic shim sets with about 10 each of 10 different dimensions, these are about .020" thicker than a ka24de shim on average and have been used with custom regrind setups. Sometimes you can run across these kits used.

[Hard_Limitz]

Yeah I am running the Gude Head package. It made about 178whp but the valves are hella loud! I have about 4-5 shims that are larger than anything Nissan produces. The custom shims are looking expensive. The crower cams at $300 for the pair might be more cost effective. I will check out the BMW and Volvo shims and see what can be done. Thanks for your advice I really appreciate it!

[deviousKA]

What is the issue with the current shim sizes? Are a few to wide, or tight?

If a few are on the tight side of the lash range you can get your valve tips machined to compensate. If a few are on the wide side you can get the valve/seat reground so that the valve sits a bit deeper in the seat, the valve stem tip would then need to be ground to finalize the lash dimension (depending).

With these flat tappet bucket/shim designs the machinist has to pay close attention to the installed valve stem heights prior to valve grinding. This adds a whole layer of process to the otherwise standard valve grinding operation. It is common for the freshly ground valves to seat differently and require the tips re-ground.

Not sure if that is your situation but might help.

[Hard_Limitz]

You are exactly right the gap is too wide and grinding the valve seat is an awesome suggestion that would help solve the gap issue by letting the head of the valve sit lower, but I thought that was really expensive and not something to consider. I will check on the prices and weigh my options. Thanks for being of so much help. I really appreciate it! Latz.

[eddiec]

can you not get shims from a dealer anymore?

and just curious, what type of metal are they made of? ive learned to use a wire edm machine at school and i could probably make some. rough cut to within about .002" of needed thickness. then get final dimension using a grinder.

[Hard_Limitz]

No my gap is beyond anything Nissan sells. That is the whole problem. I don't know what exact alloy they are made of. If you can make custom shims for me at a reasonable price. I would appreciate it. But do you have much experience making shims or is this going to be your chance to practice. Because I don't want to risk damage to my valvetrain. Thanks for your time.

[eddiec]

i wouldn't offer any until i had all the specs necessary to replicate an oem piece.

i will look into what they are made of though.

[Julian]

JGY Customs quoted $50 per shim. I want to see if anyone local is cheaper without sacrificing quality. Thanks guys!

That's some kind of crazy markup!

What you need are VW Rabbit valve shims. Same OD as KA24DE shims, but they come in thicknesses north of Nissan offerings - from about 2.80mm up to about 4.50mm. Best of all, you can find 'em for about a buck a piece. They also sell the kits Devious was talking about, 5 shims per size, in a plastic case.

[eddiec]

What you need are VW Rabbit valve shims. Same OD as KA24DE shims, but they come in thicknesses north of Nissan offerings .

great info thanks!!

[Hard_Limitz]

God damn you ROCK! THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE FOR BEING OF SO MUCH HELP.