In search of shims

[Guest]

I'm so close to firing up my rebuild, but have hit a snag on valve shims. I bought a new top end after snapping off a couple of screws where the carbs attach, and after getting everything situated, my old valve shims are way too tight. In some valves, they are touching the cam lobes 100% in all positions. I have all 8 shims in variations of 2.75, 2.80 and 2.85. I'd like to get a 2.55 and 2.65 just to measure with until I can purchase the final set I need.

The problem is, I can't find any shims anywhere. Z1 is out, Pompton is out, Bike Bandit is out, and all say that they are backordered with no refresh in sight. I contacted the owner of the shim club but haven't heard back yet. Does anyone have any other ideas where I can find some 29.5mm shims? Can I take a couple of the ones I have and have them machined down that far? I'm desperate here.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[chuck hahn]

Heres the link.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?122394-GS-Valve-Shim-Club&highlight=shim+club

[Nickel]

I sent a PM to ghost last week, but wasn't sure if he was still running the club. I will remain patient, but was just hoping there was some other purchase option I may have overlooked.

Looking forward to hearing this thing crank over with the help of your carbs Chuck, thanks again!

[Randomize]

I sent a PM to ghost last week, but wasn't sure if he was still running the club. I will remain patient, but was just hoping there was some other purchase option I may have overlooked.

Looking forward to hearing this thing crank over with the help of your carbs Chuck, thanks again!

He had some problem with a hacker taking over his account. I'll PM you his e-mail.

[Big Jay]

They are listed in the K&L catalog

[Randomize]

Just fyi for those looking to order shims, Ray (Ghost) is having trouble logging into his gsresources account so please use the e-mail address in his profile rather than PM.

[portdave]

Where are you at? I am sure I have a few you could borrow or swap.

[jeff.saunders]

Finally, we should have some of the 29.5mm valve shim back in stock next week. This has been a horrible wait.

For those of you not familiar with the issue. K&L (the importer) ran into some quality issues with valve shims in the middle of last year. A few shims made it through manufacturing that were out of spec. I've seen a few different issues including some that were not perfectly round. Thicknesses varied more than they should. The +/- on the thickness was over a full shim size on some of the shims. There were a couple of instances where the surface on shims showed some pock marks that might have been a related issue.

K&L switched manufacturer and initially expected to receive new shims early this year, that's slipped and slipped.... well finally K&L received them in yesterday. They are going through a QC process to ensure they are all good, then they will pack for shipment. We anticipate receiving them late next week. Their initial shipment is only half of what they ordered, so it's possible the stock will evaporate quickly. We'll start taking orders on these again now we know they are truly available...

[qcktvr]

Hi,
Just thinking, 30 years ago I had a 750 8 valve GS, when I had small / tight clearances I remember swapping some around and then just patiently sanding a bit off of the back side of a couple with wet / dry paper on a flat plate.
A good machine shop surface grinder could do it in a jiff..
Is there a reason for not doing that?

[Grimly]

Hi,
Just thinking, 30 years ago I had a 750 8 valve GS, when I had small / tight clearances I remember swapping some around and then just patiently sanding a bit off of the back side of a couple with wet / dry paper on a flat plate.
A good machine shop surface grinder could do it in a jiff..
Is there a reason for not doing that?

Only caveat is to mark the machined surface with a proper marking / engraving / etching of the size, so it never gets exposed to the cam, as grinding them down will leave less of the hardened depth of steel. I've done a few like that, and had no trouble.