So I got a new to me 1980 300SD and I've been doing maintenance that has probably not been done in a while - and its time for valve adjustment.

You will need a set of special wrenches that allow you to tighten and un-tighten the valve clearance adjustment nuts. You have two choices in obtaining these wrenches. You can buy them ($$) or buy regular wrenches and modify them yourself ($). Follow along as I show you an easy and quick way to modify a set of plain wrenches.



- Start off with two 14mm wrenches, these happen to be long handle wrenches from Harbor Freight. I got two sets of metric wrenches for $10 each, so now I have a set of metric wrenches and valve adjustment wrenches.



- Find a place where you can get some good leverage on the head of the wrench, this just happens to be the tow hitch on the back of the Jeep.



- I used a pipe to get a little extra leverage and to concentrate the bend near the head (very important).



- Apply heat at the point where your trying to bend and it will eventually be pretty easy to bend, just go slow. Inexpensive wrenches seem like they would bend easier than Craftsman, plus if you mess up, your not out a lot of money.



- Depending on the thickness of the wrenches, you may need to grind down the face a little. I only had to grind the bottom face of the bottom wrench.



- Now do this twice and you will have your set of valve adjustment wrenches.



- As a bonus, you get to see what happens if you don't use heat! Lesson? USE HEAT!

Good luck, and leave a message if you find these pictorials helpful.

Happy Wrenching!
Mick

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1980 300SD, 190K miles -- Soon to be on WVO
1989 GMC Suburban 6.2L diesel on WVO and B99