VALVE ADJUSTMENT
Prior to adjusting your valves, the engine must be completely cooled down. The night before, park your car in the location you plan on doing the work and let it sit overnight. First things first - you'll need a few items.
Required Items
- 19mm wrench - I prefer a box end type.
- 13mm wrench - Again, a box end is highly recommended.
- Medium sized flat bladed screwdriver.
- .006" feeler gauge.
- 2 new valve cover gaskets
Recommended Items
- Trouble light
- Floor Jack (the car's jack will work also)
- 2 Jack stands
- Clean Rags
- Something to catch oil drippings, a flat oven tin works great for this.
Prepping the vehicle
I like to jack the car up and place it on jack stands, it's fairly low back there and any lift of the rear end will make the job much easier. If you are going to jack the car up with a floor jack, place the jack's contact plate under the flat part of the pan directly in front of the transmission and lift the car. This will lift both wheels off the ground together. Place the Jack stands under the torsion tubes (large circular bar going across the chassis directly in front of the transmission and lower the car on to the stands. Make sure the stands are squarely under the torsion housing. ( Note: Never work under a vehicle that is suspended with a jack only) Place the catch tins under the cylinder heads and remove both valve covers by placing the screwdriver under the center of the valve cover bails (wire clips holding on the valve covers) and prying downward. The bail will move downward releasing the tension on the cover and you'll be able to work the cover off. Some oil will drip down at this point, don't worry, it will be a small amount. Once it finishes dripping, use a rag to clean it off the heat exchangers (if you're not sure where the heat exchanger is, don't worry it's the thing covered with oil). Lastly you need to remove the distributor cap. The cap is held on by 2 clips, insert the screwdriver toward the top of the clip between the clip and the cap, gently pry outward and the clip will pop off the notches in the cap. Don't remove the wires or the rotor inside the cap, just pull the cap up off the distributor and place it to the side suspended by the sparkplug wires. Now you are ready to adjust the valves.
1 Diplacement Table
2 Maint. Intervals
3 Valve Adjustment
4 Engine Calculator
5 Essential Tools
6 Type 1 Changes
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