Tonight I checked 1 intake spring setup and found its needs shims so assuming the rest will also need attention I got a butt load of shims ready. I don't love how the lower spring seat locates in the head....since it really doesn't. It can't go anywhere really but can and likely does lay against the valve stem seal.....I need to make an insert or something just for a bit of peace of mind if nothing else....but that will be tomorrow.
i think tonight will be make the some of the shims I cut just a little smaller OD....everything's nice cuz I do it all twice. Best to do it now while its setup.
Then make some little buckets that locate to the valve guide and the lower spring seat drops into to locate is properly. The original plan was the spring seat located on the guide but the shim height means its sitting above the locating feature..DOH! The buckets should mostly eliminate the need for shims but once I make the shim sat OD .010" small they will drop into the bucket under the spring seat if needed.
mke said:...everything's nice cuz I do it all twice.
Quoted for truth! I'm printing that and sticking to the shop wall!
1 spring seat properly located concentric to the valve and at the right height......47 to go
In reply to mke :
1 down, 47 to go, sounds like someone needs a CNC!
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
LOL
I came in for a drink....better than nothing :)
But yeah, I didn't think the whole 4valve V12 through very well on ANY level 
In reply to mke :
This is one (maybe the only) place where the rotards and 2 strokers have something going for them.
Made a dozen tonight, turn out drinking does NOT improve productivity of accurately...who knew?
They are lined up by finish size...the thickness that matters is the overall thickness minus the drop of the pocket and knowing all the seats and valves are a little different I'm just parting them off then micing for now knowing I need so variation in thickness....I'll start being more careful about exactly what sizes I make toward the end. Cylinder 1 intakes are now good.
Some days if it weren't for mistakes I wouldn't make anything at all. It was slow and painful tonight but head 1 intake springs are setup and I'm pretty confident they are setup right.....and equally confident that last build they were not....but that's in the past, the new me triple checks and sets everything up right 
As a reminder the valve train is after market for a GSXR1300. Its about 1/2 the weight of TR/308 and good to about 12000 rpm I guess. The springs are good for .460" lift and I only have .452" so no worries...as long as they are setup right. I made custom guides for the 5mm stems and to locate the lower spring seat but didn't plan on the shims I'd need which raise the lower seat off the locating feature I put on the guides, which is why the need to the buckets I'm making. The important part is it's all good this time.
I think I'm setting a new slow record of some kind....30 minutes per valve about? I'm so glad I'm not paying by the hour!
Just stupid little stuff...a bur here, the retain sits a little height after the spring is shimmed so it need a taller shim, when I replaced a bunch of valves why back it looks like the endmill I cut them with was dull and I didn't clean it up properly, finding a bunch of those
But head 1 is ready to have the shims set I think...yay
For comparison, here's what the stems I lapped right the first time look like...no bright shinny spot just a little matte finish across most of the stem face as they should be.
It thought I'd be posting a pic of 2 finished heads.....but on the very last valve I realized then remembered when I opened the spring kits there were 2 kits with 1 retainer design and 1 kit of another....they shortened it about 0.5mm and I measured the shorter one for my setup math. So I now have 16 springs set correctly and 31 set .05mm loose.....time to start over :x
Most are on the tight side so I should be able to drop in an .015 shim and be good SHOULD.....
..... and the kids noticed a long dead mouse under the pedals......
Did the math backwards in my head....it was pull it apart and cut .020" off the bucket, remeasure, reassemble and 3 hours later....finished heads.
Yay!
With the stupid work done I did something IMPORTANT tonight.....and let my inner boy race SHINE! Now it's ready to install 
mke said:Some days if it weren't for mistakes I wouldn't make anything at all.
I understand that. Here's to forward progress!
Well...the lifters look like E36 M3. No similar issues with the cams that I see. I can lap them clean.....not sure I should....hmmmm......its about a grand I don't have to replace them... ...its always something......
I was expecting a longer mouse. That looks like a regular dead mouse to me.
Why that happened to to the lifters remains. I spent a bit of time reaching out within my little circle this morning and the focus is on the fact that the valves were all hitting the pistons a bit as the most probable cause. With that fixed (which I will confirm by claying the pistons once the block and crank return) just cleaning these up and reassembling should be fine and certainly they will survive until I pull the cam covers to check the head torque and valve lash and then I either smile or replace them so very little risk and valves hitting, metal in the oil and not enough cam lube will all have been eliminated as possible causes leaving they were never good parts to start with or something more to do with hardness or surface finish mismatch with the cams. A couple days of lapping for me I guess.
It's hard to tell from pictures of course but I'm not convinced that there's anything wrong with those lifters. I think you just happened to inspect them at an unusual time in the break in period. They still feel smooth don't they? I don't think that lapping them is going to do anything good. They're precision ground to be slightly convex and lapping is either going to do nothing at all or mess up the radius and undo whatever wearing in to the cam lobe they've started to do.
If you can feel imperfections in them then they've started to fail and they're already the wrong shape and no amount of lapping is going to fix that.
APEowner said:They still feel smooth don't they?
If you can feel imperfections in them then they've started to fail and they're already the wrong shape and no amount of lapping is going to fix that.
no, they are not smooth....those marks are probably ....2 thou deep give or take?
Are these concave? I know plain old pushrod tappets are convex (popping out) but I thought these were flat and they sure seem flat...the sanding touches everywhere except the marks right from the start so I'm pretty sure they are flat as they are now. The stock ferrari tappets are shim over and the shims are flat, I'm sure of that. I don't know.....
mke said:no, they are not smooth....those marks are probably ....2 thou deep give or take?
My finger tips are way out of calibration. I mic'd one before and after, 4-5 tenths to clean it up.
mke said:APEowner said:They still feel smooth don't they?
If you can feel imperfections in them then they've started to fail and they're already the wrong shape and no amount of lapping is going to fix that.
no, they are not smooth....those marks are probably ....2 thou deep give or take?
Are these concave? I know plain old pushrod tappets are convex (popping out) but I thought these were flat and they sure seem flat...the sanding touches everywhere except the marks right from the start so I'm pretty sure they are flat as they are now. The stock ferrari tappets are shim over and the shims are flat, I'm sure of that. I don't know.....
Well, now I'm not as sure as I was. Your comment about the shim on bucket being flat has me thinking. Maybe they are flat and the rotation is all handled by the shape and position of the cam lobe relative to the lifter. My Ferrari engine experience is very limited. More accurately, I have none. I find it concerning that you can feel the marks. I would consider 4-5 tenths as being insignificant if it weren't in a part that's supposed to be some where between 50 and 60 Rockwell C. How much effort is it taking to pollish the marks out?
APEowner said:I find it concerning that you can feel the marks. I would consider 4-5 tenths as being insignificant if it weren't in a part that's supposed to be some where between 50 and 60 Rockwell C. How much effort is it taking to pollish the marks out?
Feel the marks is relative I guess....its more about being able to catch a nail than actually feel I guess...like a burr, it doesn't take much and when you can see it I guess you believe you feel it whether you do or not?
They are hard. I can't mark them with a screwdriver. I did the first one by hand and it took about 90 minutes. The next 11 I cheated and "lapped" on a running DA sander. I get 2 at most from a sheet of 40 grit, then 2-3 with the 80 grit...very light, they barely get warm. Then spend about 10 minutes by hand 100, 220, 600. Maybe 20 minutes total. so I now have 12 after about 5 or 6 hours total time...so paying by the hour it would be WAY cheaper to just replace them, but currently I'm time rich and cash poor so lapping it is. A very big vodka drink helps.....
with 1 set of buckets done I decide to take a break from lapping and do the shimming....these l9.5mm motorcycle shims are so cute and light compared to the 30mm(?) ferrari shims
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