Tappet adjustment

[TT John]

 
On the Golden flash there are so many different tappet adjustments, according to the year the bike was manufactured, so my question is: My golden flash is a 1957 plunger, now we all know that these were actually made earlier than the stated first manufactured, in fact there are some dates within the engine that are clearly stamped 1952 so what does one do about the tappet adjustment? go for 1952 settings or the 1957 which are different according to the book?

Kind regards TTJohn

[muskrat]

G'day John.
Depends on the cam and fin size. Early ones had small fins and 334 cam, clearance 10 and 10. Later had large fins and 356 cam , clearance 10 and 16, but could have 334 cam. . To be on the safe side I'd go with 10 and 16. To find which cam you have (other than splitting the cases) is to set up a degree wheel on the crank and a dial gauge on the valves to check against the figures.
334 = io 30 btdc, ic 70 abdc, eo 65 bbdc, ec 25 atdc
356 =  " 42            62   "          67    "        37
Cheers