914 newbie valve adjusting help is here., A "How-To" for newbies. Options

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

http://www.icbm.org/erkson/personal/porsch...alve_adjust.htm

I got under my car to perform my first in-car valve adjustment (my very first 914 valve adjustment was with the engine out of the car). Wow, was I baffled as what to exactly do (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) I didn't find it easy to adjust the valves with the tires and heat exchangers in the way and my neck and wrists were put into unnatural, fatigueing positions, along with limited visibility. So after some pondering and inspecting, this is what I came up with. The manuals and web sites do a poor job explaining EXACTLY what needs to be done for an in-car valve adjust as far as GETTING to the valves.

This should allow beginning 914 owners a very good path to getting to their rocker assemblies with minimal contortions, bumped/scraped hands, and neck cramping. It is assumed the person knows how to adjust valves, they just need a way to get in there. It's a quick procedure as well; removing the heating system parts actually goes very quickly thanks to its simplicity (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clap56.gif)

Hope it helps... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/type.gif)

[Cap'n Krusty]

Nice. Detailed. Complete. TOO BAD IT'S THE HARD WAY! You can read the same BS on the Bird Board. Go here to see how the real wrenches do it:

http://www.914club.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=28758

Once you've done it my way, you'll laugh at the very thought of doing it the other way.

The Cap'n

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

Nice. Detailed. Complete. TOO BAD IT'S THE HARD WAY! You can read the same BS on the Bird Board. Go here to see how the real wrenches do it:

http://www.914club.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=28758

Once you've done it my way, you'll laugh at the very thought of doing it the other way.

The Cap'n

Actually, after reading your method from the "original" 914club site -- as well as what was posted on Pelican -- and what the shop manuals instruct, I don't consider your method any simpler by a significant magnitude and you still fail to instruct the person how to get to the darn valves in the first place! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bootyshake.gif) If someone doesn't want to remove the heater parts, fine, it's not necessary. But for me it made life WAY easier in adjusting the forward valves. Maybe laying on my back on a creeper isn't the way to do this?

I think positioning the dizzy at #1 firing position and then using the marked flywheel as a guide is more accurate than watching the rockers move as you spin the tire. This valve adjusting method is very simple, accurate, requires no guess-work, and would take no more time (and probably less) than your "spin the tire on the Porsche" method.

As for the insulting comment about "real wrenches", this [valve adjusting] method was told to me by two certified VW dealership mechanics of over 20 years experience each (one of which had his own independent shop as well), and is used by other VW nuts with far more experience than you. I've used it on my dub for years as well. Get off your high horse, you're not as great as you think.

[Cap'n Krusty]

Nice. Detailed. Complete. TOO BAD IT'S THE HARD WAY! You can read the same BS on the Bird Board. Go here to see how the real wrenches do it:

http://www.914club.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=28758

Once you've done it my way, you'll laugh at the very thought of doing it the other way.

The Cap'n

Actually, after reading your method from the "original" 914club site -- as well as what was posted on Pelican -- and what the shop manuals instruct, I don't consider your method any simpler by a significant magnitude and you still fail to instruct the person how to get to the darn valves in the first place! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bootyshake.gif) If someone doesn't want to remove the heater parts, fine, it's not necessary. But for me it made life WAY easier in adjusting the forward valves. Maybe laying on my back on a creeper isn't the way to do this?

I think positioning the dizzy at #1 firing position and then using the marked flywheel as a guide is more accurate than watching the rockers move as you spin the tire. This valve adjusting method is very simple, accurate, requires no guess-work, and would take no more time (and probably less) than your "spin the tire on the Porsche" method.

As for the insulting comment about "real wrenches", this [valve adjusting] method was told to me by two certified VW dealership mechanics of over 20 years experience each (one of which had his own independent shop as well), and is used by other VW nuts with far more experience than you. I've used it on my dub for years as well. Get off your high horse, you're not as great as you think.

Thank you for your opinion. BTW, I've been adjusting VW, Porsche (4 and 6 cylinders), and other valves (using my method) since 1960, and have owned my own shop pretty much since 1976 (I managed a couple of other shops in the mid-80s), and worked at a dealership and the premier P-car shop in LA for a few years before going out on my own. The beauty of my system is its simplicity, as it can be used even when there's no distributor installed in the engine. It's more accurate because you adjust at the center of the base circly, not somewhere on the ramp. I routinely do valve adjustments in 5-10 minutes, not counting the time to set the car up on the lift. Takes a bit longer on the ground, but it's still a LOT faster than doing it the other way. I've done 'em hot in the gravel of the pits at Willow and Riverside, cold in motel parking lots in the rain, and on countless garage floors. The Cap'n