I already wrecked one valve for my Briggs and Stratton engine, so I'll probably pay to have the job done. But it really bugs me how I let this job defeat me!
The smaller B&S engines have no adjustment to the tappet, so when the valves are re-ground, they fit deeper into the head than before, causing the lash to shrink. B&S says to grind or file them square.
I don't have a good feel for how critical the squareness of the result is, but I'm pretty sure that hand filing the end of a valve stem wouldn't result in a very good job in my hands. So I tried grinding the end of a piece of stainless rod on my bench grinder. Rotating the rod as it was ground resulted in something that appeared flat, but the surface had some pretty ugly scratches in it. Would going to a finer wheel result in an acceptable valve?
Would someone with experience tell me if I'm on the right track? On line searches for valves and grinding pull up little besides fitting the heads.
Walt
The smaller B&S engines have no adjustment to the tappet, so when the valves are re-ground, they fit deeper into the head than before, causing the lash to shrink. B&S says to grind or file them square.
I don't have a good feel for how critical the squareness of the result is, but I'm pretty sure that hand filing the end of a valve stem wouldn't result in a very good job in my hands. So I tried grinding the end of a piece of stainless rod on my bench grinder. Rotating the rod as it was ground resulted in something that appeared flat, but the surface had some pretty ugly scratches in it. Would going to a finer wheel result in an acceptable valve?
Would someone with experience tell me if I'm on the right track? On line searches for valves and grinding pull up little besides fitting the heads.
Walt