Guys,
I just ran my newly built Predator Hemi mini bike/kart engine for about 45 minutes, to get it broken in. I wanted to get the oil changed, the cylinder head re-torqued, and the valves re-adjusted. After I drained & re-filled the crankcase, I unscrewed the valve cover. The valves were still at 0.003" clearance, but you have to remove the rocker arms to get to the inside head bolts, to re-torque them. I the past I have used a pair of needle nose pliers to push off the outer rocker arm pivot shaft circlips. I looked at them, and said to myself, how hard could it be to make a removal/installation tool? Well, 15 minutes later, I had a very simple tool that really worked. I took a piece of
1/8" x 1/2"x 6" steel, drilled a 1/4" hole in one end, cut it off just shy of the centerline of the hole, and sanded it to the centerline. It press's the circlips almost all the way off, without completely pushing them off, where they would pop off and go who knows where. If you set the circlip in the shaft groove, the tool easily press's the clips home, when you re-install them. I took the time to dip the tool in Plastic-Dip, just to make it look like a tool, and not a piece of scrap steel, that I might throw away. Well worth the 15 minutes.
Brian
Brian
I just ran my newly built Predator Hemi mini bike/kart engine for about 45 minutes, to get it broken in. I wanted to get the oil changed, the cylinder head re-torqued, and the valves re-adjusted. After I drained & re-filled the crankcase, I unscrewed the valve cover. The valves were still at 0.003" clearance, but you have to remove the rocker arms to get to the inside head bolts, to re-torque them. I the past I have used a pair of needle nose pliers to push off the outer rocker arm pivot shaft circlips. I looked at them, and said to myself, how hard could it be to make a removal/installation tool? Well, 15 minutes later, I had a very simple tool that really worked. I took a piece of
1/8" x 1/2"x 6" steel, drilled a 1/4" hole in one end, cut it off just shy of the centerline of the hole, and sanded it to the centerline. It press's the circlips almost all the way off, without completely pushing them off, where they would pop off and go who knows where. If you set the circlip in the shaft groove, the tool easily press's the clips home, when you re-install them. I took the time to dip the tool in Plastic-Dip, just to make it look like a tool, and not a piece of scrap steel, that I might throw away. Well worth the 15 minutes.
Brian
Brian