1969 FIAT 500 tappet clearance

Cylinder head installation:
To refit the cylinder head proceed as follows:
Place a new cylinder head joint on the cleaned faces of
the cylinder barrels. Insert the rocker pushrod and
lubrication pipe sleeves together with the relevant
gaskets and rings.
Fit the washers and nuts to the studs and tighten to
fingertight.
Tighten the nuts in the order shown in FIG 1 :44 and
FIG 1 :46 to a torque wrench setting of 18.1 Ibft. Reset
the torque wrench to a new setting of 23.9 Ibft and
tighten the nuts once more in the recommended order.
Replace the pushrods in the correct order.
Refit the rocker shaft ensuring correct location of the
lubrication tube to the rocker shaft and replace the
plain and lockwashers. Tighten the nuts to a torque
wrench setting of 15.2 Ibft. Reset the tappet to rocker
clearance adjustment.
Connect the t w o exhaust side manifolds to the cylinder
head. Using new gasket refit the spark plugs and HT
cables. Replace the rocker cover fitted with a new cork
gasket and blower conveyor to the cylinder head
securing screws. Refit the carburetter and reconnect its
fuel line and controls. Refit the air cleaner and elbow
and connect the rocker cover breather pipe (if fitted).
1
2
3
4
5
1 :7 Timing gear overhaul
Camshaft:
The cast iron camshaft is located in the crankcase and is
supported at either end in sets machined directly in the
crankcase. No bushes are used. The camshaft is driven by
a chain from the crankshaft at half engine speed and
operates the overhead valves through tappets, pushrods
and rockers (see
FIG 1 :20).During engine overhaul the camshaft journals and cam
faces should be free of score marks or signs of seizure and
have a bright mirror finish.
The distributor drive gear should be inspected for tooth
wear which if excessive means that the camshaft must be
replaced.
Tappets:
The tappets should be inspected for signs of seizure or
excessive wear. The end surface that is in contact with the
camshaft should be smooth without signs of excessive
wear. Any slight scratches or indentations may be
removed using a very fine oil stone.
Pushrods and sleeves:
The pushrods operate in special axially resilient sleeves
that are compressed on assembly between the cylinder
head and the crankcase. It is through these sleeves that
the engine sump is vented also through which the oil
returning from the cylinder head passes.
Two rubber O-ring seals are fitted to each sleeve to
ensure an oil t i g h t seal between the cylinder head and
crankcase. The sleeves should be checked for distortion
and exact equal length and when refitting new seals must
always be fitted.
The pushrods should be checked for straightness and
the t w o ends that contact the rocker setscrew and the
F50019
The crankcase is an aluminium casting suitably ribbed
to ensure correct air cooling. The main bearing and cam-
shaft bearing bores are machined as also are the tappet 1 :8 Crankcase and cylinders During valve gear overhauls the clearance between the
rocker shaft bore and the rocker must be checked. The
maximum permissable wear between these t w o parts is
.0059 inch. It is recommended that the part which is most
worn be renewed, or in extreme cases both parts. Rocker and rocker shaft: tappet seat must not show any signs of roughness or
excessive wear. 3 Oil shield (for intake valves only) 4 Snap ring
5 Rocker 6 Upper spring cup 7 Valve spring
8 Lower spring cup 9 Pushrod 10 Tappet
11 Oil seal ring 12 Pushrod sleeve 13 Seal ring 1 Intake valve 2 Upper cup lock Key t o Fiq
1 :20 FIG 1:20 Valve, pushrod and tappet assembly FIG 1:19 Camshaft. The arrow points to the lube oil
outlet port

Insert a .0079 ± .00197 inch thick oil paper gasket
between the crankcase and cylinder bottom face and a
.0236 to .0275 inch thick graphitized asbestos gasket
between the cylinder and cylinder head. The compression
of the gaskets on assembly will eliminate any very small
differences between the t w o mating surfaces.
Inspection of tappet seats:
The tappet seats should be checked for scoring and
correct clearance which must not exceed .00315 inch.
Should the clearance be greater than the maximum
specified the seating may be reamed to oversize dimen-
sions as detailed in Technical Data. Tappets are avail-
able in .00197 and .00394 inch diameter oversize.
1 :9 Piston assembly
Inspection:
Before inspection the pistons must be thoroughly
cleaned and the ring grooves and piston head decarbo-
nized. Check for deep score marks and signs of distortion
or fracture especially around the skirt and piston pin areas.
Using a feeler gauge ensure that the piston clearances in
the bore do not exceed a maximum of .0059 inch for the
Model 500 engine and .0079 inch for the Model 500
sports engine (see FIG 1 :25) . The measurements should
be taken at the bottom of the skirt and square to the piston
pin axis.
Should the clearance be greater than the maximum
permissible, the cylinders may be rebored and oversize
pistons fitted to m
atch them. Pistons are supplied in the
following oversizes, .0079, .0157 and .0236 inch. It
should be noted that oversize pistons and rings are not
available for the Model 500 sports engine so if the piston
to cylinder wall clearance is greater than the permissible
maximum limit the cylinder and piston assembly must be
renewed.
The piston ring to groove clearance must be checked as
shown in FIG 1 :26 and the ring gap when fitted as in
FIG 1 : 2 7. In both cases the readings should be
compared with the piston data. Piston rings are available
in the same oversize classes as the pistons. When
installing piston rings the gap should be placed opposite to
the piston expansion stops. Ensure that the ring gaps are
scattered and not in a line.
FIG 1:24 Checking cylinder head mating face f o r level
Out-of-true should not exceed .00315 i n c h
F50021
The installation of the piston and connecting rod should
be carried out on a clean workbench as shown in Reassembly of piston: Check that the f i t between the piston pin and boss is a
pinch fit. If excessive clearance is found the boss may be
reamed and a .0079 inch diameter oversize piston pin
fitted. The pin to bore pinch fit must be between .0000 to
.0039 inch. At all times the pins should be installed only
after the piston has been heated in hot water to a tempe-
rature of 80°C. Upon reassembly of the piston to the
engine the expansion slot must be placed facing the cam-
shaft.FIG 1 :26 Checking piston ring-to-land clearance FEELER GAUGE C.316
FIG 1:25 Using feeler gauge C.316 to check piston-to-
cylinder wall clearance

FIG 1 :44 Cylinder head h o ld-down nuts tightening
sequence. 500 Sedan
TIMING CHAIN ENDCYLINDER No. 1 CYLINDER No. 2 FLYWHEEL END
CAMSHAFT
EXPANSION SLOT C/ROD NUMBERROTATION DIRECTION
FIG 1 :45 The correct position of connecting rod-
piston assembly on engine 120.000
30
screws and together with new lockplates tighten to a
torque wrench setting of 23.1 Ib ft. Bend down the
lockplates.
9 Slide the centrifugal oil filter mounting flange, the
oil slinger and the mounting screw together with its
lockplates onto the crankshaft and tighten the screw
to a torque wrench setting of 108.5 Ib ft. Bend down
the lockplate.
10 Assemble the clutch assembly to the flywheel and
using Fiat pilot A.62023 centralize the driven plate
to the pressure plate assembly. Secure the pressure
plate assembly using screws and toothed washers.
11 Fit new oil pan cork gasket, if necessary using a little
grease to hold in position and carefully fit the oil pan
securing with screws, toothed washers and lock-
plates. Bend down the lockplates onto the screw
heads.
12 Fit the oil cooling air conveyor on the oil pan and
secure with screws and toothed washers.
13 Carefully turn the engine over and fit the centrifugal
filter mounting flange rubber seal. Fit the oil filter
cover and secure with screws together with plain and
toothed washers to a torque wrench setting of
5.8
Ib ft.
14 Ensure t h e faces of the cylinder head and cylinders
are free from dirt and oil and carefully slide the
cylinder head gasket over the studs ensuring that it
is the correct way up. Insert the tappets in the same
order to removal together with the sleeves, pushrods,
oil delivery line to the rocker arm shaft and the casing
with its seal ring.
15 Thoroughly inspect the cylinder head to ensure that
it has been correctly reassembled, carefully slide it
over the studs and secure using the four cap nuts
internally and four standard nuts and plain washers
externally. Tighten the nuts in the order as shown in
FIG 1 :44 or 1 :46 to a torque wrench setting of
23.9 Ib ft.
16 Fit the rocker arm shaft and arm assembly together
with the two supports. Tighten the supports using
screws, plain and toothed washers to a torque
wrench setting of 15.2Ibft. Adjust the tappet-to-
rocker clearance as detailed in Section 1 :16.
17 Temporarily plug the intake duct hole to ensure that
no foreign matter finds its way into the engine.
Install the spark plugs having ensured that they are
clean and correctly adjusted.
18 Reassemble the engine cowling and air
exhaust
throttle valve assembly which should be secured on
the top side using t w o nuts, t w o plain washers and
two toothed washers, on the underside with two
screws and t w o toothed washers, and centrally using
one screw and one spring washer.
19 Fit the toothed washers on the end of the spark plug
electrode and tighten the terminals together with the
special rubber boots.
20 Refit the fan, generator and ground cable assembly
and secure the crankcase, also the warmed air intake
shrouding. Finally tighten the generator to fan nuts.
21 Fit both lower exhaust silencer mounting brackets
onto the crankcase but do not tighten fully. Fit the
air conveyor and secure to the engine cowling using
six screws, six toothed washers and one nut together
with a toothed washer. Join together the t w o