MTFCA Forum

I am helping a friend with a valve job. When we pull up the valves there is a “cap” over the lifter. It is small and can be removed. My cars all have adjustable lifters and I had not seen this before. Was this standard for the non adjustable lifters? Thanks Mike.

No, not standard for the T engine, rotator caps would have been used in a rebuild some time later in it's life.

Mike:
also , there are shims that were used over the ends of the tappets to take up excess wear or to correct the clearance when too much material was removed from valve stem or tappet ( lifter) during a valve job … these stamped cups were usually in the .015 to .030 thickness … don't see these very often … always an optimist ..gene french

Did they fit over a standard lifter, or is it a special lifter? I would assume the valve would have been shortened a little to get clearance? What was their purpose? Thanks Mike

It’s an accessory part that was put over the end of the tappet because the end is worn too deep. People used these shims when they did a valve job instead of replacing the tappets. If they aren’t worn thin, you can leave them in there. If you have the cam out, you should replace the tappets.

The post is a bit old but,
Would you know if you can still buy those caps ? I would like to adjust valve lashes on the cheap ! I plan to rebuild that motor later on.
Thanks in advance.

Lash caps are used a lot in racing engines
https://www.summitracing.com/search/pro ... =part-type

Not sure you are going to find a lash cap made to go on a 7/16 diameter valve stem. But depending on how worn the end of your lifter is, you could always use a lash cap in the conventional manner and put it on the valve stem.

At 8 bucks a piece, new valves are not a deal breaker. The new valves are plenty long, If your lifter is too worn to adjust with a new valve, you need a lifter, again not very expensive.

Andy

Thank you all for the replies .