Rattle

[berger]

hello Mr greybeard this is what I came up with, the inner spring has no effect because with both keepers held with springs in position in your hand it rattles about. I am 99point 9 percent that everything is the same as my valve set up so here goes, I can't help with fully compressed  position because the cam bushes are out but I have just done this.. VALVE 99.74mm long ----top keeper 10 mm thick..----bottom keeper 5.5 mm thick..----OUTER spring 48mm long free length..----collets 7mm long..---top of valve to where collets sit 7.7mm ..----compressed spring in head ..- gap between first full coil 2.9mm ..-- second gap3.30 mm..--- third gap 3.3 mm..--- fourth gap 2.90mm , hope this can be of help

[chaterlea25]

Hi GB, and All

Looking at you photos, I do not like the way the valve springs are finished at the ends of the wire
"Normally"  the wire ends are taper ground most of the way around the first turn
Earlier I told the tale of the bad spring I got in an MCA set 
Attached a couple of pics of a random valve spring from the workshop showing the taper grind
Have you checked the valve spring free lengths given in the manual / service sheets, ? also compare the wire thickness from the old springs and number of turns

John

[berger]

very keen eye john the springs I have are ground to within 5/8ths of the full circle- interesting

[Greybeard]

I'll check the springs and their sizes when I get a chance. Thank you guys.

[Greybeard]

I sent my worn cam follower back to SRM so they could match a replacement. I got a replacement follower this morning. It looks new, but not the glassy and etched/lasered finished shown on their website: It has the same semi-matt finish that the previous set had. The receipt says Re-faced cam follower. Before carriage charge, it cost £20. A complete set costs £180, so this follower was cheap. I am a little concerned about its length. If you look at these photos you may see that the replacement follower is short. During my recent engine rebuilds I noticed that the tappet adjuster needed to be screwed well in. I'm worried that this short follower is going to be too short.

In the top photo the new follower is on the right. Other photo at the top.

I'll phone SRM on Monday to discuss this.

[Swarfcut]

GB, You just couldn't believe this fiasco.  Without wishing to rain on the parade, I would at least expect the returned item to match the other three from the same source. Also, unless you specified a built up and refaced follower, a high quality OEM or higher spec. follower should have been supplied.

 As it stands, that odd one, or even a full set of odd ones, look just plain wrong. Then again, maybe it is the other three that look too big.  Have you a reasonable set of original BSA followers to compare?

 Most frustrating for you, and once more the integrity of the supplier comes into question on the basis of the known facts.

 Swarfy.

[Greybeard]

I've been measuring cam followers. I have the set I bought before the SRM ones. I also have the previous set. All of those have a total length of 44.5mm, (measured on the unworn cam faces). The SRM followers average at 43.20mm. The 'Re-faced' replacement is 42.18mm. This, of course, shows a difference of 1.3 mm for the SRM followers and 2.3 mm for the 'new' one.

I asked Gary at SRM if I could purchase just one follower. It may be that he did not want to split a set so found me this 're-faced' follower. I'm wondering if re-faced is a grading description for a follower that is odd in some way.

In the previous assembly, the Inlet tappet adjusters had to be screwed in just about as far as possible. In fact, I needed to grind some width off the lock nuts.

If you chaps have a decent cam follower to measure will you please let me know the overall length.

[Greybeard]

Valve spring pics showing the coil end taper, as requested. I still have not measured the springs, but I will. These springs came from C&D Autos.

[berger]

hello Mr greybeard all the followers I have that are lasered? SRM are 44.5 mm , have a measure of your spring gaps before you measure free length , see how the gaps compare to my measurements

[Greybeard]

hello Mr greybeard all the followers I have that are lasered? SRM are 44.5 mm

Interesting! All 8 of my old ones measure pretty much 44.5mm.

have a measure of your spring gaps before you measure free length , see how the gaps compare to my measurements

Yes, I will.

[RDfella]

Looks like SRM are trading on their name, not on quality. And they're not cheap, either. Recently had a part from them that was several thou oversize and had to be returned.
Frankly I'd bin the replacement follower they've supplied and look on it as experience.
What arises from all this is, in my view, a mass of confusion. I warned at the outset about chasing more than one thing at once. I'd have kept the top end assembled as was, fitted a good follower and then checked to see if there was extra valve movement over and above max cam lift. If there was clearance, then the follower was at fault. Maybe the bottom collar was wrong, maybe the springs aren't as good as they could be etc etc and need to be corrected. But they were not the cause of the problem. Test what folloers you have with a file. They should be almost impossible to scratch - bin those that don't pass the file test and use the others with confidence. And lastly - check there's sufficient oil flow to the cam.

[muskrat]

G'day GB.
I'd be concerned the "new" follower may mot even reach the cam. Meaning it won't drop far enough before sitting on the retaining pin. The sort of thing that happens when a too thick (2.5mm) compression plate is put under the barrel flange. Been there done that.
Cheers

[Greybeard]

I see that Hawkshaw sell Stellited follower sets for £120. I may have to ditch SRM.

[berger]

only meeee!! , Mr greybeard looking at your photo of the followers I would put 123 & 5 in from left to right in photo, after checking the springs over .

[muskrat]

G'day GB.
I agree with berger. Those ones don't look too bad. Still got a bit of life left.
Cheers