Valve shims

My 240 series used the same shims as the Fiat. I recall that the thickness range tended to be a bit less than most Fiats. I believe all the Volvo "Red" engines used these shims (or at least the ones I happened to work on).
 
dllubin said:
My 240 series used the same shims as the Fiat. I recall that the thickness range tended to be a bit less than most Fiats. I believe all the Volvo "Red" engines used these shims (or at least the ones I happened to work on).
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What year would that be?
 
This brings up a question for me. I thought the shims from a few other manufacturers were also the same...early VW / Audi for example. But seems like someone said they are not. Anyone know for certain? [this might also apply to the Volvo shims]
 
I believe the Volvo shims went up to something very thick like 7.5mm. None of the other cars that took them went so thick and that is why they became popular. I'm unsure of the exact models that use these same shims but BMW, Ferrari, Maserati, Volvo, and Fiat. Wouldn't be surprised if they fit some others but those are what I know from customers ordering them.
 
Thanks. All of the Italian models makes sense, and who knows what Volvo does :p, so the German stuff (i.e. BMW) is the interesting cross-over. I have a box of VW/Audi/Porsche shims I can measure to see if they are the same. I assume the only critical dimension would be the diameter (as far as them being interchangeable)? Obviously the thickness will depend on what's needed, but are there any other vital aspects?
 
phillips82 said:
I believe the Volvo shims went up to something very thick like 7.5mm. None of the other cars that took them went so thick and that is why they became popular. I'm unsure of the exact models that use these same shims but BMW, Ferrari, Maserati, Volvo, and Fiat. Wouldn't be surprised if they fit some others but those are what I know from customers ordering them.
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My 78 Volvo 244 shims ran in the 3.5 - 4 mm range.
 
Diameter is critical to keep the shim in the bucket. Thickness also matters in that too thin can cause the cam lobes to strike the buckets before the shims. And thickness matters when going too thick should you reach a point where coil bind occurs. Thickness also matters in that it raises valve train weight and lowers the valve float RPM.
 
i have volvo shims from 2.35 - 5.80 and yes, I have had to grind down the shim bucket wall slightly to use the very thin shims. But again I was looking for valve train weight for racing
 
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