Valve removal help, please!

IowaKZ wrote:

I did this for the first time this summer and it is difficult. I have a big c clamp and a small pipe nipple that I notched out. my pipe is almost too small because I can barely get the keepers out past the pipe.
Anyway, I had to have my wife help me hold/turn/grab/etc. She helped me to remove and reinstall the keepers.
Sometimes another set of hands helps.

However a c clamp breaking is not good. Also, I don't think PVC is strong enough for this job, so be careful or get some pipe.

use an old deep socket with windows cut into it instead of pvc pipe

Why are you taking it apart? Are you going to rebuild the head? If so you need to be able to machine the valve seats and grind the valves. If so, why not just let the shop that will be doing that part, take it apart and reassemble it with the proper equipment.

thats half the fun,learning to take things apart ! :laugh: best way i ever found how to learn about something was to tear it apart and spend a lot of time cleaning stuff up,not to mention it saves the guy on the other end time cleaning up parts and money on my end. B)anytime ive got a customer willing to tear up a concrete floor or dig a hole for a pipe to make my life easier,im more than happy to drop the price substantially!

True, but as a shop that does the machining, I can't tell you how many times we have received heads that customers took apart and when we went to reassemble it, we didn't have all the parts. Missing some spring bases, keepers, etc.

Jay

sell em some stainless and titanium stuff! :woohoo:

As much as I want to accomplish myself (99%).... cylinder boring & Head work... Naw, don't go there too many variables to end up FUBAR...

Leave that to the experts for as already mentioned, expensive in OH SHIT factor and for a strong running motor with ideal, desired operations in power and intake air flows....

Naw, leave that one alone, worth every penny!

Just my 2 worthless cents....

OMR

You got to use the right tools.
Your fingers are priceless.
This is my collection of used shims, the shim tool, the pry bar and I use the hemostats for plucking out the shim.
All this stuff is over 30 years old.
We used to pass this stuff around the neighborhood.
After a missed shift, Friday night showing off.
I use laquer thinner and marvels mystery oil mixed for a cleaner and to see if there is any leakage through the valve seat afterwords, or to see if you have a bent valve with the head upside down on the bench.

at some point we all had to learn to do stuff we didnt know ,the secret is to know youre limitations. B)disassembly and cleaning up parts is not rocket science,and yes at some point all tools were invented or improved upon by somebody to suit their needs

I use a spark plug socket with a hole cut in it and one of those clamps that you tighten by squeezing it with your hand. A little awkward at first but you get the hang of it after a couple valves.

I picked up a new, heavier-duty C-clamp, some 3/4" black pipe, notched it out and managed to get the valves out with no problems at all. Turns out I did compress the springs at least twice as far as I needed to the first time around. The biggest PITA was getting the keepers back in after reassembly.

I ended up not grinding the valves, but just cleaning them up a bunch. A little trick I figured out — only after hand scrubbing 7 out of the 8 - was to put the valves in my drill and turn them at a high speed while holding a scotch brite pad against them. It got off a lot, lot more gunk than just hand scrubbing, plus it took about 1/10 as long.

use a wire wheel on a bench grinder that works the best for mealso when your putting the keepers try using the same assembly lube that hopefully you used when you installed the valvesit will hold them in place in the grooves while you monkeying around with the second one.

also you might want to put liquid in the combustion chamber to make sure the valves seal. if you havent put it back on yet.

i laped mine in for a very tight seal when mine was apart. held liquid for 15 minutes with springs off...