reloading the valve adjustment feeler tool
 

Welll, broke the gauge blade of my tool on the second valve. Doh! Anyone tried to refill these with the 4 thou blade tip from a feeler gauge set? I have no time to wait for a replacement to come in. Any tips on cutting / drilling your feeler gauge blade?

Thanks!

George

George,

1. Find a commercial garage supply truck/distributor such as Snap-On, and buy a roll of the 0.004" feeler gauge stock that is used in the 'JW - Island Valve Adjuster Tool'' ...

2. Make a drilling jig of two pieces of 0.125" or thicker bar stock ... clamped to a drill press table or vise.

3. Cut suitable blade and drill for the P-213 tool by clamping between the jig plates ...

4. Use Blue Loctite on the tiny screws and nuts when installing new blade in P-213 tool.

5. Always keep spare 0.004" blades for the P-213 tool on hand!

I have found that an old fashion feeler gauge holder that has a sliding lock ring works much better on my 72 911T. You can buy the holder and the stock strips at any good auto parts store. You just have to cut the strip down to fit the holder and bend it. Every couple yrs I pull out the factory tool but never make it pass the first valve before going back to the old standby. Maybe I just haven't found the "trick" to using it that makes everyone say it is a necessity.

Thanks guys!

I had good luck using the .004 blade from my gauge set and sacrificing it. Cuts with a pair of scissors and can be drilled easily. I thought this would be a lot harder. Got two blades out of it. Re-checking the valves, I broke the last one... oh well- will have to get some stock tomorrow.

I think the reason why I brake them may be that I am a bit tight on my adjustment and like to wiggle it around for a while to get a warm fuzzy feeling. I am convinced that it needs to be on the tight side. You won't 'compress' a feeler gauge to the point where the valve is adjusted too tight. If it still slides in there completely even with some force, I should be fine. I also plan on checking these valves on a yearly basis, with only a few thousand miles run, so having them on the tigher side will be okay. Think of all the extra power I will get with the extra lift I will have on the valves if I have them five to ten micrometers tighter than 0.1mm. :D

George

After using the "island911® Valve Adjustment Tool" on several jobs, I feel sorry for those still using the P-213. I don't know if Glenn has plans to make any more of the little beauties......

thastings:

Thx for the tip - but can you post of pic of what you're talking about?

I concur with Doug, hassle Island911 to build some more!

The Island tool has been requested and requested. No offense to Glenn, but it's time for someone else to make a tool. I'd be happy to do it and have mentioned that to Glenn, but that went nowhere. Thing is, most of us have never seen what it is.

On the other tool, I don't see how you can break the guage unless you're a little careless. I don't agree with George about tightening the adjuster screw so tight that you are apt to break the guage blade getting it out. One way to do it is to snug the screw down until it bottoms out with the blade in place. Let go of the blade. You need to observe the direction of the slot on the screw. A 16th of a turn is about .001, so you need to be accurate. It helps if your screwdriver blade fits snuggly in the screw with no slop. I say these things because if you are at any kind of an angle or have the blade bound up, you get a false reading causing you to redo as you doubt yourself. Snug it up, tighten the lock nut and move on.

But, if a better tool is what's needed, let's do it! Show me one.

I scored real early.

it was like a real "you snooze=you looose" adventure in the early days of this orig valve tool thread.
JW turned the "On" switch.
if you haven't read the orig 4 pages on Island911's tool; it's worth the search. a great story

think about the valve job you are going to have to do if the valves are to tight

do a search for "better valve adjust tool", on the 911 technical board, and find the original topic under my name. 2nd page probably. it ballooned from there. also search "island valve tool". various pictures of the original, and the island model.

Milt-I'm doing an adjust on Sat. if time permits, and then you are welcome to my tool as a proto, so long as you return it before next year at this time. Send me an email with a mailing address.

Remember, you have .004 +/- 0.02. Try it yourself. See how much you can compress a gauge in a barrel micrometer. It isn't much. Tight is the more accurate reading. there is no doubt you have the feeler wedged in there. If you adjust on the loose side, you will have to play games with a 0.005 feeler.

Just my four thousands worth...

Cheers, George

I broke one blade the first time I used the P-213 feeler but that was my fault, I tried to bend it a little on purpose. While I was doing it I was thinking that I knew better. The new blade will prolly last me a lifetime.

I remember when the island tool came out but I already had the stock tool so I passed.

Here's one of the original threads featureing a picture of the island tool:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/67159-cool-valve-adjustment-tool-new-source.html?highlight=valve

I have the pic from Sammy's link. I didn't realize it was here all this time. There has been os much talk about it on the parts4sale BBS w/o any mention of the pic. I should have looked. So, Greg, I don't think I need your tool to look at . It looks pretty straight forward. In fact, it looks like a beautifully made item.

I don't want to step on anyone's shoes here, especially Glenn (island). Sorry to hear about the family and health issues. Let's wait a day or two and see if he sees all of this and has anything to say. The other thing I will do is a search of suppliers to see if anything si adaptable. You never know, McMaster-Carr might have something or maybe it is available as an official John Deere tool, or something obscure as that.

If there is no word from Glenn, and if a search of obscure sources doesn't produce anything, then maybe it can be made. I have started to do some work on some early 911 battery hold downs and bending is bending.