I searched a bit and could not find anything on this.

Can you remove material through grinding or machining off the bottom of valve spring retainers to gain more clearance to the seals for a higher lift cam? Say .060"?

Thanks

 

No. That's why we machine the valve guide bosses down to generate clearance. Shortening the bottom side of the retainer can weaken it or compromise the grip on the valve stem from the keepers. You really don't want to suck a valve.

And for clearance issues on the top side of the reatiner from a higher lift cam (smaller base circle), that's why push rods are made in "plus" lengths - to raise the rocker arm position.

 

Thanks Vader....that's what I was afraid of. No ez way out.

How good do the valve spring/valve quide cutters work that you do yourself. I know that they say you can use a hand drill with the pilot but...... I have a drill press and a bridgeport mill that I can use if that will help.

 

i had mine milled for $2 each so you might be better off taking it to a shop and then you'll know it was done right. call around til you find a good price. besides, .0X0" seems like it would be hard to measure with a drill press or whatever you're thinking of using.

 

I just prefer to do things myself. The whatever is a milling machine that can mill to tol of .001 or better. I just havn't had to be that precise when making parts on it to measure any closer.

I checked your site out. I've shot one of those Nagants. Can you say KA...BOOOOM....LOL

 

ok, as long as you have the right equipment and you know you can do it, go for it.

yeah my rifle is loud as hell which makes it that much more fun lol, oddly enought there's a lot less recoil than you'd expect, i guess it gets absorbed by all that wood in the stock

 

DM91,

The $45.00 cutter and pilot from Crane seems to work fine for me - even in a ½" drill press. A Bridgeport would be ideal, since the cutter speed and depth is under a lot better control, but a ½" drill press would be more stable than a hand drill and depth of cut is better controlled with the quill stop nut. Your setup on a mill would probably be more stable, too. I've done both the guides and spring pockets myself with no problems, but I haven't done it on cast aluminum heads, only iron.

Since the pilot makes alignment nearly foolproof, even a ½" heavy duty variable speed hand drill (like a Milwaukee Hole-Hawg) could be used if done with caution.

Incidentally, I think you'll find many of the machine shops using the same cutters. I'm like you, in that I would rather do it myself and have the tools when finished. Try finding a set of valve seat stones (three angles) on a Sunday afternoon, right when you decide you'll need them. (I managed it a couple of Sundays ago, but that's another story.)

 

Thanks for the reply....that's enough for me to make the purchase and quit trying to come up with alternate ways to get clearances correct.

I would like to be able to machine and install valve guides also. They seem to want alot to do those. Are these hard to do correctly? If the guide cutter is reasonable I would like to be able to do those.

 

I've been looking with no luck. Does anyone know where to get the tooling to machine for new valve guides?