I am doin the valve seals in my 89 GTA. 305TPI
It appears that someone was at the valves b4 because there is a set of Crane 1.6:1 rockers.. What does that mean?
More importantly though...
We messed up one of the valves, (forgot to put on big intake seal). so we went back and did it.. we found that the smalle oring had slipped past the grove that it sits in.. And it looks like it is the way we are putting the springs back on.. we do 1 valve at a time. compress spring.. remove it. do the seal and put it back on.. Now we are wondering if any of the others have done the same.. Is this an issue or will they find their seat? We just spent 16hrs on it.. most time was figuring things out mind you... my 1st time his 2nd in 30yrs. took a while to get the covers off and plugs out!!.. anyway.. can anyone offer some insight? we gave up for the night and have 3 cyl left. but we're worried about the seals..


Thanks

 

Try putting the spring back on first, slip the little O ring on, then the locks, and then release the spring compressor. I did mine this way. Had to use a very small screwdriver to push the O ring down into the groove. I had the same problem you did when I tried to slip the spring over the valve stem with the ring already on it. Don't take a chance if you think the ones you already did are not right. The first time you start it up and don't see smoke in the mirrors you will get a big on your face!

 

That isn't how you put the O-rings in.

Spring first, then retainer, then the O-ring, then the keepers. The O-ring doesn't go in any kind of "groove". All it does is jam down into the middle of the retainer below the keepers and keep oil from dripping down the valve stem onto the top of the guide by making run out over the top of the retainer instead.

But the O-ring is all but useless anyway, especially if you're using "positive" seals, the kind that have the metal band around them and fit tight to the guide. The O-ring does absolutely nothing that adds value to that setup no matter where it's installed. The real seal is vastly more effective.

 

will try the spring first..
on the exhaust valve, the o ring is the only seal, there isn't any other.. there is a bigger seal on the intake though

 

i use both o ring and positive seals. i know the o rings are useless but i figure for a couple of dollars why not. positive seals will work, even if your heads weren't equiped with them originally.

 

finished valve seals.. no smoke
but for someone who has not done it.. its not a "piece of cake"
had to do 4 cyl twice because we were putting the o-ring on first and then the spring.. that didn't look like it was working. putting spring on 1st did work. took 2 days.. 9:00-11:30 and 9:00-10:00. It isn't a difficult job, but not nice.

 

Yeah, that's the trck with those damned o-rings. Gotta hold the spring compressed under the retainer, slide the o-ring into the bottom groove on the valve stem, put the locks on the top groove and THEN release the spring/retainer. Puttin on the o-ring and THEN sliding the retainer down only shoves the o-ring down onto the valve stem below the retainer where it does abosutely no good.

 

i was doing some searching for "valve seals" quite a few people say it is easy to do... far from it. I don't know if someone is doing a tech article on it.. but do include the fact that you put the compressed spring over the valve, then out the o-ring on with that plastic protector included with seals.. then look with a light to see that it is in place.. and then put keepers on.. like i said that cost me 6hrs. but.. day 2 of driving.. still no smoke YEH!