my valve adjustment story
 

i boguht my ap2 with 14k on the clock. i put on 5 or six track days andnow at 48k.

when i adjusted my valves i would have to say that 15 of the 16 were way too tight. i had to loosen both intake and exhaust valves.

i did have a problem with feeling as when you put the gauge in it doesnot really stick but when i remove it by dragging it out it draggd quite a bit more.

does anyone have any tips? i ended up dragging the feelers out sideways vs forward to eliminate the drag from it touching the valve cap.

Find someone with vernier calipers and set it to the same size as the shim. That will let you feel exactly what it's supposed to feel like.

Set the tappet so there is a nice drag on the feeler, and the next size up will not go in.

the problem i am getting is that i drag on the tappet but i also drag on the valve cap as well so its kind of mixed. when i use the feel gauges they are labeled but it can pull out slightly off as i am using 90 degree ones so it binds on the caps. next time i will use straight feelers

It takes practice to use feelers correctly. Any tilting of the feeler, or coming in at the wrong angle, will make it drag more. I use 90deg feelers. I suggest taking them off of the handle and using them individually. Too loose is just as bad as too tight. The rocker will hammer the valve stem.

Is it possible that you have sunken/cracked retainers? That could cause this problem and would mean it's only a matter of time before you have a catastrophic failure.

i hope not. car only has 48k on it. i believe it was the 45 degree feelers and the angle which i pull that was causing the bind

From what I've read, AP2 retainers don't seem to have any issues so far.