Lister Junior valve removal.

Hi,
Before I get too excited and break something (or hurt myself ) How do you dismantle the valves on a Lister B hopper cooled, given that a conventional valve spring compressor wont fit, and the two very large covers inside the hopper are, well, very large?
Cheers
Joe

Have you got the brass bungs out?

If you have then pop a block of wood in over the valve, screw the bung back in to hold the valve shut, turn it over so you can get to the springs and that, push the spring down with a spanner or something, pull the pin out and gently release the spring, simples.

You will need to move the brass plugs in the hopper. With mine I made a tool.

A peice of 1" square bar long enough to come above hopper then weld a handle so looks like a L. If need more leverage use a scaffold tube. But the engine needs to be held well. So if on skids you could park a car on a skid.

Once that's out do what villiers said, with pliers push down and pull pin out. But use a block of wood to stop valve pushing down as you do this from valve head side in the hopper.

Matt

Thanks fellas. That's pretty much what I figured needed to happen just wanted to make sure before I tried anything.
In order to shift the bungs in the hopper, I'm guessing it would be best to bolt the hopper back onto the crankcase, shift them, then take the hopper off again?.
Thanks!

Yep there is no way in hell you can hold it without putting it back on the engine unless you are really REALLY lucky and the bungs are in finger tight, they are normally F***ing tight!

1" square bar, big spanner and someone to hold the engine, if need be you can clout the end of the bar with a good sized hammer to shock them loose.

As the others have said, if your Lister B is fitted with the brass valve covers inside the hopper then these have to be unscrewed to reach the valves.  They can sometimes be very difficult to get out.  I was lucky and the ones on my Lister A didn't put up too much of a struggle.   If you do try 'Villiers' method of tapping the end of the bar with a hammer whilst trying to turn it, then don't hit it too hard, as you don't want to break the cast iron hopper casting!!  

Once you have taken the brass covers out then you will probably need to replace the two big copper sealing washers that fit underneath the valve cover heads.  I think McGowan Engineering (also known as 'rattlenackers' on ebay) do some replacement ones for about £6.  They also do gasket sets for the Lister A and B and a few other bits and pieces such as exhausts for them too.  Hope this is useful.    

If you are stripping your engine down further then be careful with the main and big end bearings as you can't buy new ones any more, and good second-hand ones can be very hard to find!

SEP now do big end bearings Jules.

Thanks guys. 'A Lister, yes, I've already stripped the crankcase, luckily the bearings are in good condition, I've seen the guy on ebay, new washers are on the shopping list.
Tonight, I've had a rummage in the shed and I've found a long bolt with a 1 inch square head (ex telegraph pole I believe) which will work and the valve covers are now marinading in some plus gas. I'll get some coach screws on tuesday to bolt the crank case to the trolley and then it should be solid enough to swing on (the trolley is a little over-engineered!). Will let you know how it goes.

[quote="joegrgraham"]Will let you know how it goes.[/quote]
The bolt will snap, that's how it will go. I have seen 1" solid bar twist trying to get these bungs out so your bolt stands no chance, unless you are lucky like that.

joegrgraham wrote:Thanks guys. 'A Lister, yes, I've already stripped the crankcase, luckily the bearings are in good condition, I've seen the guy on ebay, new washers are on the shopping list.
Tonight, I've had a rummage in the shed and I've found a long bolt with a 1 inch square head (ex telegraph pole I believe) which will work and the valve covers are now marinading in some plus gas. I'll get some coach screws on tuesday to bolt the crank case to the trolley and then it should be solid enough to swing on (the trolley is a little over-engineered!). Will let you know how it goes.

if you want to borrow a tool for taking them out get in contact with me asap i can meet u near stratton area in swindon tommorw as off to gdsf tommorow .

matt

Got the buggers!!! 
In the end, I scrounged an offcut of 2 inch steel rod from my local engineering company, and then ground flats onto, one end 1 inch square, the other end to suit one of my big 3/4 drive sockets, a bit of muscle and a length of scaffold pipe and bingo. Valve covers out, no damage and no injury!

I'm glad it went OK for you, best of luck with the restoration.  Don't forget to post some photos once it's finished!

Removed the valves today, and found that BOTH of the valve guides are broken off just inside the head. Although everything seemed to be held tight when assembled, I'm guessing they're going to need to be replaced? just looked at the SEP website and they an't cheap! How much of a pig is it to remove the bits that are stuck inside the head? will it involve a trip to see someone with a press?.
Joe.

I have just hammered them out in the past with a long length of round bar, then tapped the new ones in the same. As your ones are knackered it doesn't matter if you break them getting them out.