KF82 Flathead Nightmare

[Springbok]

Originally Posted by CP241

stuck or bent valve maybe?

Close. It appears that both my valves were not seating. I lapped them, but I must have used too large tappet caps (pucks) and had too little clearance between tappet and valve. Once I got the cylinder head off I could see a tiny amount of daylight through them when they are supposed to close tightly. That's where all my compression went. Once the entire cylinder was removed and free from the tappets pushing on them, the valves then seated the way they should. I'm guessing I checked/corrected the clearance at the wrong position. Supposed to be TDC on compression stroke. Going to have to double check that next time. Since it's all apart again I'm going to overbore it and put in new piston/rings before reassembly.

[Springbok]

Got mine running! I just decided to throw it back together for now. Just double checked the valve clearance and put in some shorter tappet caps/pucks so the valves seated. Got 105psi of compression now.

[CP241]

105 is perfect! Go enjoy it :)

I've only had 1 experience with a kf82 and it had 0 compression due to valve trouble. Slight adjustment and it ran like a top. Thanks for the help!

[Gearhead48]

I’m thinking of a total rebuild of my flathead in the near future so I’m like a sponge to this kind of info.