I got 601s with the 1.84-1.50 valves and I need a set of garbage valves to protect the sets while Im polishing the combustion chamber. Ive called a few shops but no seems to have the 1.50 let a lone the 1.84. Any ideas? thanks ......... ps no Im not going to machine in in 1.94s lol

 

Call more machine shops, they should have some that are being thrown in the trash.
Otherwise you're looking at tearing heads off at a JY, and stealing valves there (5 finger discount).

I imagine some of your valves are going to be junk anyway. Most likely all your exhaust valves actually...
Check stem wear, and take your worst two, and use those as junk place holders to protect the valve seats. Then buy as many new intakes as you need, and most likely a full set of exhausts. And since you seem dead set on buying the smaller valves and giving up your chance for more HP.... well, enjoy!

 

Im pretty sure there new, the previous owner had the heads rebuilt, then painted them without covering the exhaut ports so the exhaust valves have black over spray on em..

 

Check stem wear. You'll wanna do that anyway.

If they are all fine, then just buy a new one of each. $8/valve. Use those as your guards.

 

do I need to mic. the stems?.... they dont have any noticble markings on them .

 

if the heads were rebuilt by someone else before you, how well do you trust what they did? Did they just knurl the guides? new valves? new valves and bronze guides? etc etc.
You can pull the valve "open" about .4", then set up your dial indicator on it. See how much play it has side to side. I forget the "in spec" number, but that checks guide wear for you.
Or mic the stems. I think .002" is too much variance along the stem.

 

Okay, Ill check for guide play,,,, all the valves are new,, also I dont want to have the larger valves machined cause the heads have 0 miles onthem, they were milled .030,hot tanked, new valves,seals,springs and retainers then mocked up on a sbc and they sat there for a year and a half. Ive got a 305 that im slapping a l98 cam,1.6 rockers, headers, msd and coolant switch to hold me off until I can afford to get my 355 running. So if I port these heads and my tpi intake, clean the injectors myself, Ill hopefully have a decent running 305 for free( well Ive already got everything listed above so no more cost at least). Plus I dont think a stock 350 cam will warrant much more air than will be supplied with the stock heads ported, even if they are only 1.84. Itll definetly be alot better than the 305 Ive got now.

 

I'd look at a hotter cam. Something like the LT1, or better.
Otherwise it's a bit of a waste of time to do all that work.

 

Ive got a chance to get a 97 lt1 but I would have to use 1.5 rockers on it cause of the lift being more than .480.. the 89 l98 cam with 1.6 rockers will actually have more duration and the same amount of lift as the lt1.

 

no no, you never, and I mean never, limit your camshaft to stupid things like max lift on the heads. You modify the guides, and run the cam that you want to run. Don't let $60 worth of machine work slow you down.

 

Is there anyway I could grind down my own guides with a drill press? I just traded a xe268hr for som umi subframe connectors, but I still have the ability to get that lt1 cam.

 

Yes, you can buy the tool from comp/isky/etc. An arbor and basically a hole saw. About $40 for each, or $80 total.
Or, cough, don't tell anyone about this, but.... pssstt... I used a 5" angle grinder and grinding disc to bring mine down about 1/8" or so....

 

Did you have enough left to put valve seals on?

 

ooops! I goofed! I meant I ground down the rocker stud bosses. I couldn't get my rockers far enough down to get proper lash, because the rockers were down on the shank of the studs, so I had to cut the stud bosses down.
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I actually don't think I touched the valve guides.... I think they were machined by the shop. I'm using .050" offset locks on the intake, and normal on exhaust, and have shimmed the springs for correct height.

 

the springs were shimmed, (does that mean somethings been done or just adjusting for proper seat pressure), the valves have no play in the guides, I dont have a dial mic but trying to wiggle it at @.4" I cant feel any thing... heres a couple of picks of the heads. Is there any way to tell if the guides were knurled? heres pics of the heads.... two different types of locks?.... and the inside of the guides.....is there anyway to tell if they were machined for higher lift? thanks alot, I know I have alot of Qs. I appreciate ya taking time to help me out.





and the shims ( thinner is intake and thicker is exhaust)

 

Those were knurled, and it looks like thicker shims and offset locks were used to eliminate the exhaust rotators. Use a checking spring to see what your maximum lift is.

 

whats an exhaust rotator? Where do I get that spring to check my max lift? How does it work? thanks..


I just looked up sitting bulls thread on the 601s and saw what the rotators are on the exhaust,,, will the retainers on the right go on the exhaust valves ?...... I should of cataloged the parts better, I assumed the locks were all the same. You know what they say about assuming...lol

 

Yes, it should be the ones on the right to reduce the installed height.

You can get a checking spring from the usual suspects, but any low-tension compression sping will work. You want something that'll hold the retainer and the valve up but can very easily be pushed all the way down by hand. Measure the difference in the height of the the retainer between the two positions and subtract a .060" safety margin. That'll be the max valve lift for your head.

 

thanks so much!!!