Hey Keith, where do I find NC valve shims?

Dealership is less than useless.  Any hints?

There are a whole bunch in every NC engine!

Which is also known as a "duratec" and used in the occasional Ford. Might be some sources there. Or just try a local machine shop, they usually have a stash of shims for popular engines.

Keith Tanner said:

There are a whole bunch in every NC engine!

Which is also known as a "duratec" and used in the occasional Ford. Might be some sources there. Or just try a local machine shop, they usually have a stash of shims for popular engines.

Do they all use shims, or are some hydraulics?  I can't believe this is causing me this much aggravation.

My machine shop uses the shims they have, and grinds the stem of the valve for clearance.  Simple if the head is off.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

And, which Ford?  I know people at the local Ford store.

Pretty much any Ford with a four cylinder for a long time :) Heck, even the Ecoboost is an evolution of it. 

I don't know about shims vs hydraulics. 

I was rebuilding a NC head a few years ago for a friend. He was installing in on an Escort GT 1.8L engine.  I sourced the shims on line after I determined which thicknesses I needed.  I first switched the shims around to see which valves I could get to spec and then figured what I needed from there.

I don't remember where I got them but I know I did a Google search.  

Those take valve shims? You learn something new every day.

In reply to Cactus :

Seriously! “Wait what?!” Was my first thought.

I still sorta don’t believe it.

CyberEric said:

In reply to Cactus :

Seriously! “Wait what?!” Was my first thought.

I still sorta don’t believe it.

If you need, I'll take a picture...

jimbbski said:

I was rebuilding a NC head a few years ago for a friend. He was installing in on an Escort GT 1.8L engine.  I sourced the shims on line after I determined which thicknesses I needed.  I first switched the shims around to see which valves I could get to spec and then figured what I needed from there.

I don't remember where I got them but I know I did a Google search.  

You may have been rebuilding an NB head. The BP (NA/NB 1.8) was used in the Escort GT, I don't believe the MZR (2.0 NC engine) ever was.

If it helps, Mazda's part number for the shims is LF01-12-5xx, where xx runs from 41 to 78 in roughly 0.020 mm increments. LF01-12-541 is 3.000 mm,  LF01-12-564 is 3.442 mm, etc. They're $5-7.50 via Mazda Team support. Armed with the part number, gooooooooogling is a lot easier. 

12-966 in the picture. Probably worth changing out the diamond wshers (12-4272 in the pic) if you have the cam gears off.