Morris Minor Owners Club

This post is a guide to adjusting the torque required to obtain the loud click with the Clickadjust tappet tool. It is not for the little clicks that you count the number of for the correct gap. This is the loud click when you are screwing down the tappet screw that tells you that the gap has been completely closed (then you turn anticlockwise the required number of little clicks).

The problem some people have (me included) is that the tool refuses to make a loud click until the valve spring is being compressed. The torque required to obtain the loud click is too great.

First remove the plastic top inner cap. You can prise it out with a small screwdriver.


You will then see a crosshead screw. Remove this carefully. It is under spring tension. Then pull off the black top wheel.




The screw goes through a spring. How far the screw is screwed down determines how much tension the spring is under and therefore the torque required to make a loud click. You can see the plastic ratchet teeth.

Grease the ratchet teeth. Then reassemble. Experiment by holding the screwdriver bit either with your finger or pliers and screwing the crosshead screw in or out to set the desired loud click torque. Screwing the crosshead screw inwards increases the torque and outwards decreases the torque.

Another way to do it would be to shorten the spring or simply compress the spring beyond its elastic limit to make it shorter. This would reduce the loud click torque but it might be difficult to fine tune doing it that way.

That's it. Test it on the car and when happy put the cap insert lid back in.

Incidentally, if you think the crosshead screw must have been screwed all the way down when it left the factory, it was not. Clearly adjusting the screw is how the tool is set at the factory. If you screw the screw all the way in the tool locks up solid.

Stephen


Grease

Adjust spring tension by screwing the crosshead screw in or out.

Great info Stephen and well explained

Are they actually any good, often thought about getting one over the years but just never found to it
I have heard good things about it but you never know if it’s just hype

That's very interesting Stephen. I removed the plastic end cover and that screw is fully tightened. It's a slotted head screw in mine. I did this before reading your post.
Gripping the end of the tool in a vice and turning the serrated "clicker" needed quite some force before the loud click. I'll try experimenting by slackening off that screw. I wasn't aware that it is adjustable.

Mervin wrote: ↑Sun Aug 17, 2025 11:07 am That's very interesting Stephen. I removed the plastic end cover and that screw is fully tightened. It's a slotted head screw in mine. I did this before reading your post.
Gripping the end of the tool in a vice and turning the serrated "clicker" needed quite some force before the loud click. I'll try experimenting by slackening off that screw. I wasn't aware that it is adjustable.

Yes the problem I had was that the loud clicker would not click when tightening the tappet adjusting screw until the valve spring was being compressed. The spring in the tool was just too strong.

My thinking has changed since I first posted. I think the best solution is to shorten the spring and then the screw in the head of the tool can be fully tightened. To determine how much to shorten the spring by you can experiment and it will require trial and error.

Stephen

I just had to experiment Stephen! Thanks for the information. It worked. I think, initially, rather than shorten the spring, I'll make adjustments "on the fly" next time I check/adjust the valve clearances. When happy with the result, using the screw, I will note how far it's been released and add a bit of medium strength thread lock to prevent it moving out of adjustment.
That plastic end cover is a bit of a pig to remove.
Thanks again, much appreciated.

You're welcome Mervin! I also thought that might be a good solution. Note how many turns of the screw from fully tight are required to set the correct tension and then use some thread lock to keep the screw in that position.

Or: Nibble a little bit from the end of the spring with a Dremel cut off disc. Test and nibble off a bit more if needed. Then dress with a file. NOTE: if you shorten the spring too much there is no going back. Too much would mean the tool could make a loud click just from the friction of screwing down the tappet adjusting screw and before the rocker gap has been fully closed.

Stephen

To save butchering the existing spring, you could try modifying a spare spring.
I have an assorted bag of these. I can't remember if it came from Maplins or a Tottenham Court Road surplus shop (both now sadly gone, of course).
I last used used one of these to repair my trafficator switch, whose worn innards had seized, due to the original spring being now too long/strong.

Davemate wrote: ↑Sat Aug 16, 2025 6:04 pm Are they actually any good, often thought about getting one over the years but just never found to it
I have heard good things about it but you never know if it’s just hype

Once you have used one you will never look back. The first time I used mine I did it twice because I thought it could not be that easy. But it was.

Ah, mike1864, ". . a Tottenham Court Road surplus shop", was that Proops? If so, I remember them well. A branch of the family still flies the flag, see here https://www.proopsbrothers.com/
A trip down memory lane, MikeN.

Proops ! I never thought I’d hear that name again. I might have this wrong but there was a type of warehouse in a road off of the top end of Watling Street Dartford, which I feel might have been linked to Proops, of Tottenham Court Road.

King Kenny wrote: ↑Sun Aug 17, 2025 2:42 pm

Davemate wrote: ↑Sat Aug 16, 2025 6:04 pm Are they actually any good, often thought about getting one over the years but just never found to it
I have heard good things about it but you never know if it’s just hype

Once you have used one you will never look back. The first time I used mine I did it twice because I thought it could not be that easy. But it was.

I’ll get one then

You won't regret it. 8 klicks.

I used mine yesterday having adjusted the power of the spring. It was a pleasure to use, however, after eight clicks it was not possible to cram the 12 thou feeler blade into the gap, so I gave them all nine clicks. I know that this is most likely because I have got wear on the rockers, and the tool is designed to overcome this....but I felt better that I had a slightly bigger gap than what might be considered ideal.
I also used the oportunity to glue a new rocker cover gasket to the rocker cover, and put some grease on the head to make removing the rocker cover easier in the future.

A slightly bigger gap will not be a problem - if it is only 'slightly' bigger. As I do not possess one of these gadgets, I set my valve clearances with a feeler gauge but slightly on the 'loose' side. Better a slightly bigger gap than a smaller one.

stuffedpike20 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:28 am I used mine yesterday having adjusted the power of the spring. It was a pleasure to use, however, after eight clicks it was not possible to cram the 12 thou feeler blade into the gap, so I gave them all nine clicks. I know that this is most likely because I have got wear on the rockers, and the tool is designed to overcome this....but I felt better that I had a slightly bigger gap than what might be considered ideal.
I also used the oportunity to glue a new rocker cover gasket to the rocker cover, and put some grease on the head to make removing the rocker cover easier in the future.

There's been a lot of discussion over the years about using a bigger gap than 12 thou. Having a bigger gap means that the valves are open for a slightly shorter time. As unleaded fuel can burn hotter than the old leaded fuels and there is no lead to act as a lubricant, it is thought that the exhaust valves in particular benefit from the larger gap. Having this larger gap means the hot exhaust valve is closed more quickly and put in contact with the big heat sink that is the cylinder head. The only downside to this larger gap is the top end of the engine may be a bit noisier although from my experience this is only noticeable when the engine is cold.

Stephen

mike1864 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 17, 2025 12:33 pm To save butchering the existing spring, you could try modifying a spare spring.
I have an assorted bag of these. I can't remember if it came from Maplins or a Tottenham Court Road surplus shop (both now sadly gone, of course).
I last used used one of these to repair my trafficator switch, whose worn innards had seized, due to the original spring being now too long/strong.

A bag of mixed springs would be handy but I don't have one unfortunately. I took approximately 2/3rds of a turn off the end of the spring in 3 increments. Cutting, reassembling and testing each time. The tool is now perfect for my needs.

Stephen

I have just bought a SPQR device on eBay. As my engine is not standard (it has a fast road Kent Cam and the rocker adjustment nuts are 1/2 inch) , I am having to experiment with the number of clicks to get the right gap (16 thou), but one question I have is this: once I have done all the clicks, I then tighten the nut with a quarter turn of the handle, but in doing so, I get a few extra clicks which reduce the gap - is this normal? When giving the handle a quarter turn to tighten the nut, I am pressing down on the device to keep the 'flat head screwdriver tip' in the adjusting screw.

Otherwise, using the SPQR is simplicity itself!

You need to hold the top part still as you tighten the lock nut. There will be a lot of klicks going on but ignore them. It takes a bit of practice as it seems counter intuitive. I have done it so many times now that after making the adjustment I can tell if it is right by lifting the rocker arm up and down a few times.