Swilkerson
Active member
Hey guys. Got a 1989 f-350 that I need to adjust valves on, what do you guys recommend/have for feeler gauge sets? Pics are appreciated as well
What do you guys recommend for feeler gauges?
- Thread starter Swilkerson
- Start date
Shoreline_
Well-known member
I have both Snapon set I purchased recently with nice mini screwdriver handles but for years I have been using a Mitutoyo set. But they aren't stainless so you need to keep them lightly oiled.
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
i like the handled blade sets made by lang rebadged by many.
www.langtools.com
www.langtools.com
SKU : 3085 - Offset Valve Tappet Gauge Set - Imports
Manufacturing professional tools since 1932
www.langtools.com
SKU : 3079 - Master Feeler Gauge Set for H.D. Truck Valve Adj.
Manufacturing professional tools since 1932
www.langtools.com
finn
Well-known member
I’m scratching my head trying to recall which 1989 F350 engine has an adjustable valve train.
If you are new to adjusting valves get a set of Go-NoGo type feeler gauges. Will help get an idea of the measuring and friction.
Or just keep the 3 sizes in hand while doing the job. If the clearance is 0.006" have the 0.005 & 0.007 on hand to double check your work till you get the hang of the locking nut and how much things change when tightened up. Finger tight nut and slight drag of feeler gauge at 0.005 might change to 0.006 with nut locked for example.
Not sure of the space on the F-350 but I have found the angled ones I have are used the most. I never really found any one brand to be the best, they all are cut from a uniform sheet or strip. But I do have a couple metric sets with Hazet and Stahlwille branding. Both of these come to more of a point before the edge is rounded.
A lot of my cheaper sets have been broken off or taken apart to use the blades individually. Mostly because the intake and exhaust valves are different lash and I want each size readily available, rather than flipping through the pack to the other size needed.
For my aircooled VW I only need 0.006 for valves and 0.016 for points. Here I use a double ended blade holder I think was made by Blue Point. Keeps these sizes readily available for quick access gathering needed tools for a job.
But I am also curious what engine is in that thing.
Or just keep the 3 sizes in hand while doing the job. If the clearance is 0.006" have the 0.005 & 0.007 on hand to double check your work till you get the hang of the locking nut and how much things change when tightened up. Finger tight nut and slight drag of feeler gauge at 0.005 might change to 0.006 with nut locked for example.
Not sure of the space on the F-350 but I have found the angled ones I have are used the most. I never really found any one brand to be the best, they all are cut from a uniform sheet or strip. But I do have a couple metric sets with Hazet and Stahlwille branding. Both of these come to more of a point before the edge is rounded.
A lot of my cheaper sets have been broken off or taken apart to use the blades individually. Mostly because the intake and exhaust valves are different lash and I want each size readily available, rather than flipping through the pack to the other size needed.
For my aircooled VW I only need 0.006 for valves and 0.016 for points. Here I use a double ended blade holder I think was made by Blue Point. Keeps these sizes readily available for quick access gathering needed tools for a job.
But I am also curious what engine is in that thing.
OP
Swilkerson
Active member
I honestly don't know. We have the engine out and it is the 7.5. We were going to re ring it and put new bearings, valve seals, and regasket it.
I have never rebuilt a ford engine, I'm just thinking ahead.
I have done a chevy 350 and an old 454. The valvetrain is adjustable on those. Figured it would be on the ford as well.
This will be an experience for me and my friend who actually owns the truck. I'm sorry if I caused any confusion.
But I would still like any recommendations because who knows what I'll get into in the future. Again, I'm not really a ford man. Never been too deep inside a ford gasser, but I feel I'm capable.
I have never rebuilt a ford engine, I'm just thinking ahead.
I have done a chevy 350 and an old 454. The valvetrain is adjustable on those. Figured it would be on the ford as well.
This will be an experience for me and my friend who actually owns the truck. I'm sorry if I caused any confusion.
But I would still like any recommendations because who knows what I'll get into in the future. Again, I'm not really a ford man. Never been too deep inside a ford gasser, but I feel I'm capable.
71firebird400
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2016
- Messages
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Unless it’s got solid lifters there won’t be any lash to check.
OP
Swilkerson
Active member
Like I said, I didn't know. I called myself thinking ahead
Xcursion88
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2013
- Messages
- 785
Any that are USA made and have the most expansive lineup.
finn
Well-known member
To my knowledge, Ford hasn’t used adjustable valve trains over fifty years. The 71 Boss 351 and Super Cobra Jet 429 Drag Pack had solid lifters.
Any known-brand feeler gauges will definitely be fine for engine work. I have a nice stainless Hazet set but still use a really old normal steel set which I don't know where I got it from.
Brass ones also exist (I think so they're not magnetic and also don't rust?).
Brass ones also exist (I think so they're not magnetic and also don't rust?).
KnurledNut
Well-known member
If you are just wanting a good general service set, I would recommend the Williams GS-1.
I have them and many other brands. Same as the Bluepoint USA set.
USA made and currently $14 on Amazon, which is around the price of similar cheap imports.
I have them and many other brands. Same as the Bluepoint USA set.
USA made and currently $14 on Amazon, which is around the price of similar cheap imports.
Last edited:
joe_pinehill1
Well-known member
McMaster-Carr
McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.
www.mcmaster.com
These are very good
danski0224
Well-known member
Far as I know, the 460 has never had adjustable rocker arms from the factory.
The 429 CJ did.
It's just remove, replace, torque down. If you remove anything, keep the parts together as sets for re-installation if the parts are reused.
I haven't used them yet, but I have the Snap On set. I also have a Lang set.
shop.snapon.com
Snap-on Store
Orangina
Well-known member
Curious - since the mid 1970s we had self-adjusting hydraulic valve lifter in most of our cars - Cadillac introduce them in the 1930s.
So I use feeler gauge sets only for my simple classic aircooled VWs without these - but not at my much older Mercedes with it. On a trip with it and a little problem, I had to realize that no modern workshop has anything like it anymore
. Since then, they have always been also in the on-board tool kits... not all of them are a classic version as this:
Typically you only need 2-3 thicknesses of it for an old car type - 1x valves, 1x ignition and less often others.
You don't need a big set with many sizes.
regards,
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finn
Well-known member
I last used then on a car to set points gap and valve lash on my old 69 Boss 302, and the distributor pickup coil gap on a 95 Mustang 5.0. The 302 swapped into the 59 F100 and the old 74 F600 still have points ignition too.
On non automotive, ie Chainsaw and other small engines use them to set coil to flywheel gap, although a business card works in a pinch.
Mot my most used tool.
On non automotive, ie Chainsaw and other small engines use them to set coil to flywheel gap, although a business card works in a pinch.
Mot my most used tool.
RedneckWelder
Well-known member
i just have a $10 Craftsman set of angled feeler gauges for doing valve adjustments or other feeler gauge work on diesels. cheap enough to pitch if they get rusted or screwed up.
bwringer
Well-known member
Just to add another digression to this discussion, here we are late in the year 2022, yet it's still remarkably difficult to find metric-only feeler gauges.
This matters mostly to those of us with metric motorcycles with shim adjustments, where the available shims and the specs are in millmeters, not barleycorns or bananas.
Inch gauges usually have metric equivalents marked on them. Better than nothing, but EXTREMELY error-prone.
Metric gauges are not too terribly hard to find, (powersports shoppes often stock nice quality sets under the "Bikemaster" brand name) but almost all are also crapped up with inch/barleycorn conversions, which only serve as added opportunities for error.
The only metric-only gauges I've found are in increments too course for many motorcycles.
One of my bikes, for example, has valve clearance specs of just .03mm - .08mm (no, that's not a typo or misunderstanding; the spec really is .0012" - .0031" for vintage 8-valve Suzukis), and shims are available in .05mm increments. Gauges thinner than .05mm are very hard to find, and ideally you would need .01mm increments up to about .15mm. The best I've been able to do is increments of .02 or .03mm. So you're left with the fine art of deducing actual clearance by whether the clearance feels loose or tight.
To give another example, my Yamaha FJ-09 specs are .26-.30mm (exhaust), and .11 - .20mm (intake), with shims available in .05mm increments. This is more typical for modern motorcycles, but note how the exhaust clearances are in a smaller range, and these are the clearances that change the most; it's good practice to set these near or at the upper spec where possible so that they'll stay in range as long as possible. (There's also the fine art of acquiring and saving factory shims, which are often found in very useful "in-between" sizes.)
A digital micrometer that reads directly in millimeters has really made life far easier as well; once in a while a shim is missing its faint markings, or I want to verify a shim.
Yes, it's certainly possible to do quality work in any measurement system available, including Klingon cubits. But sticking with millimeters throughout instead of farting around with conversions and constant math really does serve to reduce opportunities for errors.
What I would love, and would actually pay rather well for, is a service that could assemble custom feeler gauge sets, in clearly marked millimeter-only measurements in .01mm increments in the exact ranges I want. I'd happily sign up for a set specific for each bike.
There are industrial suppliers, but no one I've found selling onesie-twosies to ordinary slobs like me:
www.easterngage.com
This matters mostly to those of us with metric motorcycles with shim adjustments, where the available shims and the specs are in millmeters, not barleycorns or bananas.
Inch gauges usually have metric equivalents marked on them. Better than nothing, but EXTREMELY error-prone.
Metric gauges are not too terribly hard to find, (powersports shoppes often stock nice quality sets under the "Bikemaster" brand name) but almost all are also crapped up with inch/barleycorn conversions, which only serve as added opportunities for error.
The only metric-only gauges I've found are in increments too course for many motorcycles.
One of my bikes, for example, has valve clearance specs of just .03mm - .08mm (no, that's not a typo or misunderstanding; the spec really is .0012" - .0031" for vintage 8-valve Suzukis), and shims are available in .05mm increments. Gauges thinner than .05mm are very hard to find, and ideally you would need .01mm increments up to about .15mm. The best I've been able to do is increments of .02 or .03mm. So you're left with the fine art of deducing actual clearance by whether the clearance feels loose or tight.
To give another example, my Yamaha FJ-09 specs are .26-.30mm (exhaust), and .11 - .20mm (intake), with shims available in .05mm increments. This is more typical for modern motorcycles, but note how the exhaust clearances are in a smaller range, and these are the clearances that change the most; it's good practice to set these near or at the upper spec where possible so that they'll stay in range as long as possible. (There's also the fine art of acquiring and saving factory shims, which are often found in very useful "in-between" sizes.)
A digital micrometer that reads directly in millimeters has really made life far easier as well; once in a while a shim is missing its faint markings, or I want to verify a shim.
Yes, it's certainly possible to do quality work in any measurement system available, including Klingon cubits. But sticking with millimeters throughout instead of farting around with conversions and constant math really does serve to reduce opportunities for errors.
What I would love, and would actually pay rather well for, is a service that could assemble custom feeler gauge sets, in clearly marked millimeter-only measurements in .01mm increments in the exact ranges I want. I'd happily sign up for a set specific for each bike.
There are industrial suppliers, but no one I've found selling onesie-twosies to ordinary slobs like me:
Custom Feeler Gage Products | Manufactured in the United States
Rather than fumble trying to make do with “off the shelf” items, your employees will be more productive using a tool made specifically for your application
www.easterngage.com
four.cycle
Well-known member
there are millions of feeler gauges out there that have been used once and then tossed into a drawer. many of them have found their way to ebay.
the last two or three I bought were dirt cheap. two were vintage. the other was a 1950s NOS Indestro (still in the package.)
worth a look if you want to save a few bucks.
the last two or three I bought were dirt cheap. two were vintage. the other was a 1950s NOS Indestro (still in the package.)
worth a look if you want to save a few bucks.
APEowner
Well-known member
There's no factory engine from an '89 F-350 that has adjustable valves.