Just wondered if anyone else has had problems with the valve lifting mechanism.
I have owned my B44 for about a year now and I thought it should be easier to ease the piston over T.D.C than it was.
I removed the rocker box inspection cover and couldn't see any sign of the rocker arm moving when I operated the lever.
Off came the petrol tank for a proper look. The first thing I noticed was the return spring was all scrunched up, so I dismantled the adjuster and cable. The spring wasn't slipping over the adjuster and was getting crushed up, I fixed this problem and then checked the actuating arm position as per RR's instructions and all was as it should be, when the arm was pointing straight up it was kissing the rocker arm.
Great!
I reassembled it all and set about adjusting the cable. I adjusted and adjusted until I ran out of adjustment and I still wasn't getting the rocker arm to move.
So I thought, has the cable stretched or is the actuating cam worn?
I wasn't removing the rocker box to find out, so I would have to fix things another way.
Then I noticed another potential problem, looking from the timing side, the arm couldn't travel from 12.00 o'clock to 11.00 o'clock because it fouled the head steady bolt, even though the head of this bolt has a slimmed down head.
So, I decided to reposition the actuating arm, I removed it from its splines and set it at about 3 minutes past 12 looking from the timing side.
After everything was reassembled, it adjusted up just fine and now it's like turning over a sewing machine compared to the previous compressor.
Whether parts have worn or stretched over the years I cannot say but all's fine now.
When I rebuilt my b44 , the valve lifter shaft only ran in the alloy head and there was quite a bit of waggling in the rocker cover
so I made a little bronze bush and fitted that to the rocker cover to sort out.
I realised that the leverage forces acting on the lifter arm needed more length of support so allowed that in my new bush.
The D section shape of the end of the lifter arm needed careful location under the bit of the valve rocker arm as well.
And as you say, the arc of operation needs to be clear.
It worked superbly
much easier on a side valve to get at and fix but adjustment is critical as there needs to be a slight gap like on the tappets otherwise if the exhaust valve is not closing properly all kinds of shenanigans will occur. I suspect the same scenario is true of overhead cams. Once the exhaust lifter cable snapped. The engine will not run properly without this as the lifter jumps about all over the shot.
I haven't had a problem with the valve lifter on my 67 B44R Shooting Star and always use it. The cable did snap on one occasion but I was able to easily replace it after removing the tank. I seem to remember the new cable came from Burton complete with a new spring and adjuster nut. It was a challenge to reset it just right and I struggled trying to follow the manuals but finished up using trial and error rather than by sight. I wouldn't be without mine.
I've just fitted a new cable, adjuster arm and lever to by B44 rebuild, but notice the lever only just operates the lever at the end of its travel, despite the cable being adjusted up. I'm going to fashion a slot washer where the outer cable passes through the lever arm, as this seems to be where the play is being caused. And of cause, you need to make sure the lever arm is right on the splines so that it will open the valve without being pulled too far over