The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest P&G Valve Gapper for 235/261

Would anyone know if there was a P&G valve gapper model for use on the 235/261 and if there was, what that model was?

The P&G gapper we had around the shop in the mid-1950's was a universal unit with adapters for different engines. Is there any reason the same thing can't be accomplished with a flex-mount dial indicator, other than the nostalgia effect?
Jerry

Nostalgia. I love old American made specialty automotive tools

Nostalgia is great- - - -I love the challenge of scrape-fittimg Babbit rod bearings and setting oil clearance with shims, but somewhere along the line the advantage of boring those rods for insert bearings and grinding the crankshaft to fit should also be considered. Hand cranks for starting the engine and acetyline generators to run the headlights are nostalgic, too!
Jerry

Our P&G valve gapper was universal with attachments for different engines. It took into account rocker/shaft wear and was so accurate one was supposed to wipe the oil film off of mating surfaces. It also was so slow and tedious it ended up sitting in a drawer.

I had one for years. I sold it to a fellow Stovebolter recently. I haven't used it for many years.
George

There are several of them on Ebay today- - - - -with prices ranging from dirt cheap to ridiculous!
Jerry

I’m not sure how that device is supposed to work. Looks interesting. I bought an old SnapOn valve adjusting tool a few years ago. I think I paid $15 or $20. It really does make the task much easier. I bought it on a whim, not knowing….but I’d do it again.

So what I know about the the P&G is that it came in a few different models and even the universal models were not really universal. There are a few of them on ebay. The problem is that they have not been made for many years now. Frankly, they were probably just a little bit before my time. I dont want to guess and just purchase one that will not be what I want. So my question remains, whether anyone remembers exactly which model, or adapter was specified for a 235 or 261 chevy?

I came across this same issue with my Sun Distributor Machine when a friend had a catalogue and we found the part number for the 235/261 chevy adapter so you could check the distributor with vacuum advance. Would like to do the same with the P&G if possible.

As I remember the one that was around our shop in the 1950's, it clipped onto the top if the valve spring, with a dial indicator that contacted the top of the rocker arm. Supposedly, it could be used on a running engine, but every time Dad tried to use it that way the dial indicator pointer would rotate around the dial at random due to the pointer slipping on the shaft. It could be used on a stopped engine by going through the same process of finding top dead center that was used for a feeler gauge. The only difference was that the feeler gauge was quicker, and more reliable. In my opinion, from seeing one actually in use in a top quality professional shop, the thing was a gimmick designed to separate a gullible mechanic from a big chunk of his money! If you manage to find the unicorn you're seeking, you'll probably love it!
A machinist with a modicum of common sense should be able to take the basic unit that's for sale on Ebay for $25.00 and adapt it to a specific valve train with a little bit of tinkering. The one that's priced at $200.00 has bunches of adapters, plus the thing that's really needed- - - - -a feeler gauge!
Jerry

I saw that one. Too much for me.

I think I'm going to buy that cheap one, just to say I've got it, and make it fit a stovebolt engine.
Jerry

Edit- - - -just bought the Detroit Diesel P&G valve gapper for $53.00.

Mine had adapters for practically all o-head valve engines in the 50,s. It uses a different adapter for the ex.-& intake on the Stovebolt engines.
George

I remember them being around and hardly ever used. I think my old Sioux valve grinder with a rocker arm dressing attachment did more for having valves adjusted correctly than anything. I used to buy up old stuff just for nostalgia, but I am now 78 years old and I see it is time to quit buying stuff that I will never use.

Good point- - - - -I've got an "in the frame" crankshaft grinder stashed away somewhere that I never even unboxed after buying it in an Ebay auction. I had ideas of using it along with a retired lathe to make a Rube Goldberg crank grinder. Then I bought TWO Storm-Vulcan crank grinders, also on Ebay!
Jerry

I dont think I have ever seen an in frame crank grinder!

How old are you? They were going out of style in the mid-1950's when I started hanging out in the shop at age 10. On the old inlines with lots of room under the engine, a small high speed grinder with a brass hook on it could be hung over the rod journal, and it would follow the crank around as a slow speed electric motor turned one rear wheel with the transmission in high gear.
Jerry

Well that explains it, lol. I was not even born when they were going out of style!

On a Chevy 216, most (or maybe all) of the connecting rods could be changed from the bottom without removing the cylinder head by pulling the piston down far enough in the cylinder to expose the wrist pin. It was not uncommon to find one or more undersize rods in an otherwise standard dimension engine after a damaged crank journal was reground in the block.

A pretty well-built wrench jockey could also muscle a portable boring bar like my Van Norman 944S over a fender and bore one scored cylinder oversize if it got damaged by a broken piston ring. Used car lots were bad about doing stuff like that- - - -"Just patch it up enough to sell!"
Jerry

Here you go. An interesting item. Video Link