Valve adjustment tools

[John Vardanian]

What do you guys use?

Tom, Sicard being old Ferrari mechanic, does he have a special tool for setting the clearances and the jam nut? Thanks.

john

[tyang]

Hi John,

I apologize for the crapy welds, but I made this valve adjustment tool a few years ago copying the design of Francois' adjustment tool. I made the handle a little longer to more torque, and the whole thing a little shorter to get better access to cylinders #5 and #6.

spectool5.jpg (572.73 KiB) Viewed 6947 times

The tool steel rod slides inside the socket and allows you to hold the adjuster screw in place as you tighten the nut.

spectool6.jpg (416.15 KiB) Viewed 6947 times

I had a slot cut into the rod to match the shape of the flats on the adjuster screw. They changed in dimensions through the years, so a little slop in the slot will allow it to fit most adjuster screws. The only one it won't fit is the square adjusters found on very early survivor cars with original adjuster screws from the factory.
I welded a small collar at the bottom of the center rod so it wouldn't fall out of the socket so everything stays together.

You can do valve adjustments with small adjustable wrench and a 12 mm wrench (or was it 11mm?), but if you do as many valve adjustments as we do, a special tool makes it a lot easier!

Tom

[John Vardanian]

Brilliant! I love yours. Thanks for sharing.
I got this thing many years ago which use with a 11mm spanner. It's not really that user-friendly. I think I'll sacrifice it to make something like yours.

john

[Jimmyr]

I find that using a long 11MM six point box wrench helps by not slipping like the 12 point ones do. The USAG tool shown works well, but Tom's tool looks like it has it all in one. Always pull the adjuster screw out and check for damage or wear on the tip - very important!

[John Vardanian]

Jimmy, the problem is that sometimes the screw creeps as you are tightening the jam nut. The USAG tool is somewhat ineffective, you need something with better leverge.

john

[tyang]

You can use a 11mm wrench and an small adjustable crescent wrench to hold the adjuster screw from turning, or find the appropriate open end wrench for the adjuster and go from there. Having a special tool for this procedure sure speeds things up, but if you're going to make your own tool, consider the height of the tool because on certain cars the tool will not work on the exhaust valves near the battery because of clearance. I made my tool a little shorter than Francois' tool for better clearance, but on certain cars, it just won't fit, so I will resort to using the two wrenches. I do probably one valve adjustment every 6-8 weeks, so a special too is must-have!

Tom

[John Vardanian]

Tom, did you modify a lathe key to make the insert shaft?

john

[tyang]

Tom, did you modify a lathe key to make the insert shaft?

john

I had some tool steel laying around that fit inside the 11mm deep socket that I sent out to a machinist to make the slot for the adjuster screw. I drilled the shaft to accept the cross bar. I then made a collar to fit on the top of the socket to locate the center shaft better along with holes in the collar to accept the second set of cross bars.

Since you already have that USAG tool, I would simply weld a cross bar to the top of that tool after you cut the handle off. If the end of it does not fit inside a 11mm socket, you may have to turn it down a little bit on a lathe. I would leave some slop in the clearance between the insert and the socket so it will be easy to line up with the adjusters.

Tom

[John Vardanian]

Thanks Tom, that is my plan.

john