RB26 Head Rebuild Help!!

[74260zt]

Anyone here have any experince with setting up the valve train after a valve grind?

I have plenty of L6 experince, but the RB head has me wondering...With no rocker arms, how do you detirmine the right shim thickness after the valves have been cut and lapped??

(sorry for posting in two places)

[IvoryJ30t]

feeler gauges and a micrometer

setting lash on the RB26 head looks like a PITA

[themadscientist]

you will have to reshim the tappets for correct clearance.

[74260zt]

you will have to reshim the tappets for correct clearance.

uhh, hello, I know that... thats why I asked how

[eh?]

With feeler guages as J30 mentioned. Do you have the FSM? IT shows how to do it. It looks easy but I doubt it is.

[74260zt]

Thanks, I wasn't meaning to be a smart ***. I just wanted to hear from a person that has done it. I have the manual, its not the same as hearing it from someone thats done it...

[Nameless EJ6]

Try a skyline forum.. there's not really many RB26 guru's here.

[74260zt]

want to see something pitifull, after 80 views, no one will bother answering.... LOOK HEREAnd thats a skyline forum...

[74260zt]

after reading my manual, I think its a no brainer. I'll save my questions for something a bit harder....

thanks, and later....

[sideshow]

ok heres what i did with my ka, install the valves with just the buckets on top of them and no spring, then install the cams and tighten them down. then take the feeler gauge with the right spec and push on the valve and slide the gauge inbetween the bucket and the cam and go lower or higher depending on how easy it goes in, you want it a little firm. and record measurements for each valve how much you have to take off. it wont be much and what you can do is take the valve and grind the tip of the stem if your valve grinder has one. sometimes they have gauges on them to tell how much you are taking off then make sure you keep them all in order and this is way easier than re installing pucks. but this only works if the head has too little clearence for what the specs are. i hope this makes sense if not i can explain it further

[74260zt]

theirs going to be a pretty good size gap without the shim taking up its space... it'll have to be a thick feeler gauge huh?

sounds easy though... thanks

[sideshow]

are you talking about the shim for the valve spring or the puck for the lifter? because you leave the pucks in there, just hold the valve in with the lifter where it would normally be and find a feeler gauge that will barely make the valve move when you stick it between the came and the puck.

[74260zt]

I pretty much figured out how to do this now, after you helped me understand how the cam lobe just wipes on the can. I just need to keep the proper clearence between the base circle and the can when everything is all together, right??

Thanks for the help... got it...joel

[sideshow]

no problem, it worked for me when i rebuilt my ka24de. my teacher taught my that trick because otherwise i would of had to buy new pucks for it.

[GTR Shop]

They are a PITA!! a BIG one.If you measure at 10 thou, and you want 5 thou, then adding a 5 thou shim SHOULD do the trick..more often that not.. it doesn't as a oil film is enough to throw it out by 1 thou with hydraulic nature of the film.You'll get very good at using a feeler, torque wrench and also a magnetic pencil!

[cortexx]

HI there

made an account here just to answer this question

Use a micrometer to measure the thickness of each shim that sits between your valve retainers and the bucket that site on top.

assemble the head , valves , springs , retainers , shims , buckets , cams etc etc .

measure the gap under each cam lobe with the lobe pointing up so you can gauge the clearance properly. record the gap

exhaust gap should be .51 mm gap and intake should be .44 mm gap . calculate the required shim for each lobe based on current shim thickness , and gap.

you'll probably find some of the shims are exactly the right gap so you can switch them around to suite , then you'll have a shopping list of shims that you can go visit your nissan dealer for .

[Ramius83]

HI there

made an account here just to answer this question

Use a micrometer to measure the thickness of each shim that sits between your valve retainers and the bucket that site on top.

assemble the head , valves , springs , retainers , shims , buckets , cams etc etc .

measure the gap under each cam lobe with the lobe pointing up so you can gauge the clearance properly. record the gap

exhaust gap should be .51 mm gap and intake should be .44 mm gap . calculate the required shim for each lobe based on current shim thickness , and gap.

you'll probably find some of the shims are exactly the right gap so you can switch them around to suite , then you'll have a shopping list of shims that you can go visit your nissan dealer for .

LOL, although we appreciate the info, you do know that this post is over 8 years old????

[Carl H]

that is exactly what i was thinking...

[julio]

Good luck getting them from you Nissan dealer btw

[DustinZ]

But it still helps new rb26 guys. This post shouldve been stickied. There is so much important data that shouldve been stickied over the last decade that would make dumb post disappear.

Dustinz

[74260zt]

Thanks, I finally got them all set last weekend...

[julio]

For what its worth, sr20 valve shims will work on the rb26. They can be found state side and at a cheaper cost. The downside is that they are a smaller diameter and come in different size ranges than the rb26 units (you can still make the size ranges work). I bought a few I needed to complete my cam upgrade and even ran them for a short time. Since they were smaller, I got too nervous and decided to just pony up and just buy good shims from a supplier in Australia. They do work great in a pinch though.

[tommey]

I have done it, either you can use shims or you can reuse your old shims and adjust the valves in the valve grinder.