Cam carrier gasket yes or no?

[omegaman]

Can anyone tell me at what point did the 907 engine go from paper cam carrier gasket to liquid type?

Is there a serial number range or is it a matter of lifting the carrier and seeing if there is an O ring between it and the head? 

 

Also, what measurement is assumed for the paper gasket thickness when calculating shim thickness? 

 

 

[peteyg]

I'm no expert but I didn't think there was ever a paper gasket for the cam carriers. The point of the thinly applied anaerobic sealant was to negate the affect of affecting shim size. Happy to be proved wrong.

Pete

[jonwat]

3 hours ago, omegaman said:

Can anyone tell me at what point did the 907 engine go from paper cam carrier gasket to liquid type?

A907E0203Z - GASKET, CAM HOUSING to HEAD, Very early 2.0 (Up to 1974)

Very early engines only. Up to engine number 11276

[omegaman]

Great, thanks guys.

 

That's strange because mine looks to have gaskets. It has been very noisy on the valves since I got it running. They all seem to be around 0.016 which is about double what they should be, odd that they are all out, which makes me think that in the past someone may have done a valve job and installed gaskets without including that in the calculation. 

 

It could be a simple, remove the gasket and reseal to get it back into spec. 

[omegaman]

Ok I measured all the clearances and got an even 14 thou on all the inlets and an even 15 thou on the exhaust side. 

 

I pulled the carrier off on the inlet side and it definitely had a thick gasket installed. I removed the gasket and bolted it back down with just one follower and shim in place, I could barley get a 1.5 thou feeler in between, so I used a shim that was marked as 91 thou rather than the 92 that should have been in there. That gave me enough clearance to get the 1.5 thou feeler in. 

I also noted the cam is a A907E which indicates someone must have been playing around with it when it was in California. I'm guess a V8 pushrod mechanic had a go at the top end and messed it up using gaskets. It's super clean in there, like new. 

 

I'll get a micrometer and double check the shim thickness before order new ones. 

[omegaman]

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2023 by omegaman

[peteyg]

Can't remember the spec off the top of my head but the inlet and exhaust clearances are different. I made the mistake of setting them all the same then had to take it all apart and redo it. D'oh!

[omegaman]

Yes its between 5 and 7 thou for inlet and 10 and 12 thou for exhaust. Exhaust tends to heat up more, so being on the high side of the clearance numbers not so much of an issue. I'll probably leave those at 15 thou and just sort the inlet out. 

Edited September 26, 2023 by omegaman

[drdoom]

Careful with those exhaust clearances, one would not wish to lose too much of the ramp portion of the lift curve.

[omegaman]

Yeah I hear ya, they are 3 thou over at the mo, what's that in mm? 0.07mm?  Actually I have no idea what pistons it has in it.....I'm assuming low compression being a federal car, but the cams have been changed for European spec, maybe they changed the pistons as well.

 

Is there a visual difference between them? I could have a look inside the plug hole with a scope. 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by omegaman

[jonwat]

1 hour ago, omegaman said:

Is there a visual difference between them? I could have a look inside the plug hole with a scope. 

If you search for S1 & S2 pistons at SJSPORTSCARS you'll see some pictures.

[drdoom]

It's been an awfully long time since viewing but the center band of the piston crown is flat on the 9.5 UK/Euro spec, gently dished on the Federal 8.4 slugs. As I best recall.

[omegaman]

Thanks....I'll take a look.

I should be able to get some kind of gap measurement by placing the smallest shim in where the largest one currently sits......bolting it back together without a gasket gives me pretty much zero clearance with them all in the correct positions. Once I can figure one out, I can calculate the rest and pop down to SJ Sportscars in the afternoon. 

[omegaman]

I  used a 91 thou shim in place of a 96 thou and managed to get some clearance to measure. I found that I need to remove 6 thou from all the shims in the end. The old gasket when pinched tightly with the micrometer reads about 15 thou, which explains the zero clearance when I bolt the carrier in place without the gasket....valve clearance was 15 thou before I removed the gasket.  

Shims and sealant should be here tomorrow. 

[omegaman]

Well that was a right pain in the backside to do. I was quite surprised having only measured one shim and guessed the old gasket thickness, that once I fitted all the new shims and used flange sealant, the clearance on all valves was 8 thou....a tad high but acceptable. 

When I pulled the cambelt off, the pin fell out of the cam belt tensioner, took me ages to get it off and put it back together again....I don't want to do that again in a hurry. 

I'm not quite sure how I changed an exhaust valve  on my old S2 on the side of the road when I was 25, with just basic tools. I have a workshop full of tools and my own 2 post ramp now, and it was still a right pain just doing the shims. Having a removable side window came in handy though. 

 

[omegaman]

I think maybe you are in the wrong section, the Esprit did not come with a 1.8 ltr engine.