Hi. I have a 2.5 dohc out of a 99obw. heads are on the bench. I measured each shim, installed the cam then measured clearance with the lobe at its lowest spot. Any reason this wont give me accurate measurements? btw...2 tight exh valves both .008. all the intakes are at or near ,009. sound like i got it right?

I have seen the clearances change after torquing the head but it doesnt happen very often on these engines. Probably about 3-5 out of a couple thousand I have had to put back together either for rebuild or head gaskets.

 

Your clearances seem about right. Sometimes you can simply move a shim from one valve to another to make things slightly better. For the most part dealers dont stock these shims.

Nominal clearance is .010" for exhaust valves. I wouldn't even worry about .008" until the next timeing belt change..... If they are under .008" I typically will make some adjustments but otherwise I just leave them alone.

 

Intakes are a little loose actually as they are supposed to be .008"

 

Remember that each .001" is actually 2.5 shim sizes (measured in hundredths of a mm) - so you have to go down 5 shim sizes to get from .008" to .010"

 

GD

Ordered the shims i need from my local subaru dealer. Just for kicks i asked him if he sells alot of these. He said " been in parts for 13 years and this is the first time i remember". No one adjusts their valves? Or is this shim bucket system only used for a few years?