wrong Feeler Gauges?

WRONG feelers. and .008 is too loose. Motion Pro makes some nice ones. Or you can go cheap and get bikemaster. If you get some from the auto parts store, they need to be in .001 increments starting at .001 and going up to .020 or so

Make sure you're reading the feelers in millimeters and not the English equivalent. They are usually stamped with both. And make sure you don't try inserting them at an angle to the bucket. Try to get them as flat on the bucket as you can.

If you can't fit that feeler in between with just a little bit of force, then the valves are obviously too tight. The feeler should fit, but drag just a little bit if the clearance is right. You should be able to move it freely fore and aft, as well as side to side, but you should feel it dragging slightly as you move it around.

I think if you can find some new feelers that go smaller so you can measure the current gap, that would tell you a lot. That would allow you to figure out what shims you actually need. Otherwise, you need to swap shims around, measure it so see where you're at, and then figure out the proper shim size to get you to the final measurement.

Yup sounds like I may have gotten the wrong ones, mine do have two numbers on them, the .008 feeler also shows .203 under that if I remember correctly.
I will look around at some of the part stores today, almost got this thing back together, I'm so glad I am doing it myself, learning a whole lot!
Thank you guys again!

.008 is inches, .203 is mm. It's much easier to measure in mm as the shims are sized in mm's so when you need to do the math for new ones you're not converting.

dricked said:

.008 is inches, .203 is mm. It's much easier to measure in mm as the shims are sized in mm's so when you need to do the math for new ones you're not converting.

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Sweet, thanks for the tip I'm swinging by harbor freight a little later today. I think they have what I need.

How tight do you guys usually run your clearances?
On my intake side I've got them spot on, on my exhaust side they were all measuring at .17mm and .18, the manual states they should be anywhere from .17-.22 mm
Would you re-shim to get them a little looser? I've read that some people run their clearances on the tight side for less noise and more lift.

Leave it on the tight side of the spec, it will be fine. I always shim on the tight side, unless I know its a guy who races and never checks his valves. Then run them as loose as they go to buy more time. LOL

Ok sweet! Thanks for the help man, I was freaking out thinking I'm gonna have to re-shim.
Running them on the tighter side just means I'll have to check clearances a little sooner next time right?