I pulled the valvecover tonight, and got down to the girdle that holds the cams. Presumably I am supposed to jam the feelers in these little diamond shaped openings in the girdle? Is this a task I'm better off dropping the engine for? The Factory Manual doesn't suggest doing so, but it's real light on information here. There's not a lot of room here, what're my best practices here? is there a particular brand/length of feelers y'all recommend? do I need to pre-bend them or anything like that? This looks like a pain in the ass- I am not enthused here. Thoughts? Good wishes? Good stories? Bad stories? Story stories?
Drain, unbolt and remove the radiator. That will give you enough room to do the job, you shouldn't have to remove the carbs either. This method is how I did it with the engine in the bike. What kind of feeler gauges have you got? Some sets are just flat and wide, some come with the ends bent and some are skinnier and tapered towards the end. I was able get my set of feelers in from the exhaust side, between the cage and the cylinder head on the outside. For the intake I went from the middle. A photo would help with refreshing the memeory.
Flat and wides are what I have- not sure they’re the best tool for the job tho. Here’s pics. I really didn’t wanna drain the new coolant from the bike... ugh.
Pull the rocker cover gasket off, that will give you enough space to take measurements from the outside around the cage
My opinion: Pull the engine out and do it properly...plus if any clearances are out, you'll need to remove the cams etc. While you have the engine out, you can check a bunch of stuff before putting it back together again. I know it's time-consuming, but It's my preference. Plus...this boot/carb holder clamp is in the wrong position.
I developed my own method of setting the clearance on my SL125 Honda. I think it was supposed to be 0.2mm. Anyway, whatever it was, I used to adjust the gap so that I could feel it moving, but couldn't hear it clicking as I wobbled the rocker. Whenever I checked it with feeler gauges, it was spot on. That method served me well for several years, but I am not advocating that anyone else adopt that method.
Being DOHC Cam on bucket the only adjustment is to either replace shims or grind the top of the valves. Engine shops doing race engines will always grind the valve stems than change shims.. that way they can get the clearance spot on. Not what I would recommend in this case though