Thread: Valve Springs, Shims, & Hardened Washers

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Can valve springs be installed directly on top of a shim or directly on the spring cup in the head? Or should there be a very thin hardened steel washer separating the two?

I have "glitter" in the oil pooling on top of my cylinder head... to the point of being gritty.
Thanks.

By glitter do you mean that you have metal shavings, metallic dust, or something similar in your oil? Sounds scary. I don't know how much, if any, residue is created upon break in, but I would be hesitant to start it up again until there was fresh oil in it. Sorry, this is a "non-answer" response to your post. You already know that you have a problem. Hopefully someone has seen something similar to this.

the springs should have a shim under them they are hard. if no shims then the springs will cut in to the iron or alum head. i use VSI shims they have a top and a bottom to them or cups or hats that hold the springs in place. shims can get cut in by the end of the springs in time but you should not see grit in the oil . it sounds like the to me you lost some rocker balls ? or some did not set up your springs right

That glitter could be from anywhere in the motor. Pull the spark plugs to make the motor easy to turn over by hand and use a breaker bar and ratchet on the damper retaining bolt to turn the crank over and eyeball the rockers to see if all of them are lifting the valve to the same height. You may have a cam going south.

Is this a nice fresh rebuild motor ? Just asking because that glitter could be off your cam lobes and lifters wearing in and the chome molydenum disulphide (whew) cam lube getting in your oil.

yes it could be bad news if the valve train is making noise the cam could be going bad or it could be moly past

Hey all,
I had a friend come over and look at what I am seeing and upon a second inspection, things arent AS bad as I thought (I tend to assume the worst). There is some glitter though. I popped open the previous filter and it was not packed full of metal shavings, particles, etc...but did contain trace amounts of the glitter I mentioned.
Yes, it is a fresh build, only 6 to 7 hours of run time. All springs have a shim underneath. I installed new rockers (my old ones were worn) and adjusted the valves and some of the lifters bled off during the process (they were all hard when I started. Measured the lift at a few intake/exhaust valves (from retainer to the head surface) and with my rough measurements (+/- 50 thousandths to be safe) I am not getting anywhere close to the .515/.530 valve lift that I should be. I saw figures ranging from .220 to .400 if I remember (I dont have the paper with me that I wrote it down on).
Is that normal due to lifter bleed down or indicative of having worn some "lift" out of the cam lobes? I have heard that some bleed down is normal, and I have heard that they should remain rock solid once they are pumped up so I dont know what to expect really.
Thanks for all of the advice guys. I feel like I am walking on eggshells because this is a fresh motor so I very much appreciate the insight.

Based on that article Denny, it seems that bleed down is normal? Thus affecting my measurements ?