well, maybe some of you saw my intro post that i have been updating but this is a question about the valve stem seals on the heads i am working with so i will post it on a separate thread. i thought about just painting the heads and slapping them back on the block but then i thought, valve seals are cheap so i bought a 13 dollar valve spring compressor at harbor freight(god i love that place). and money well spent, when i took one head apart i found some bad valve seals. the youtube videos i have watched all have only one notch on the valves for the keepers. the heads i am working with have two notches at the top of each valve. one for the keepers and one for a black ring that crumbled to pieces when i started removing the springs.

so my actual question is when i am putting them back together exactly what order do i install that second notch seal. do i compress the spring and slide it over the valve stem enough to put a new ring on it or does the ring go on before i slide the spring over it?

 

just my thoughts . install umbrella seal , install spring & cap , install stem seal , install keepers , release spring compressor . keep all lubed with a small amount of grease/vaseline/assy. fluid . use good umbrella seals , "I" prefer to install umbrella seals on ALL valve stems . many will say it is overkill , maybe so . they are cheap , easy to install , & can't hurt anything . i know the manuals say you don't need them on all the valves . does it hurt ? NO!! are they cheap ? YES!! are they easy to install now ? YES!! good luck .

 

I cant find your other posts. Will you be lapping the valves too while the heads are off? Its definitely worth the <$10 and couple of hours. Then you can be confident that they'll seal properly. In my case I discovered a valve that was slightly bent on my used vortecs and replaced it. Wouldve sucked if I didnt notice and put them on as-is.

 

this is the one i was referring to.
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...ated-10-a.html
i saw some youtube videos on valve lapping. doesn't look like much. do you have to have a special oil or grease that u use? i haven't really researched it. i know the tool is cheap as hell.

 

It's just called valve lapping compound, valve grinding compound, something like that. Got a jar at napa. Probably could've gotten away with the smaller tube of it. Theres oil based and water based. I had no clue, just picked oil based. Just spread some around the edge of the valve and spin it in the head. Clean it off and check it occasionally to make sure its working evenly the whole way around. If it grinds more on one side than the other, bent valve. Once you're done and they're cleaned up, put a shop light up to the valves and look into the ports as you turn the valves. If light gets through, you have more work to do.

It's cool you didnt let that door dent scare you away from the car. Mines got dents of it's own, but it was cheap enough and the underside wasnt rusted which is rare around here.

 

yah, i figured for the price we paid for the car and the condition of the inside that door can be replaced. i am glad we don't have the rust problems around here like some areas. i have seen pics of open floorboards from rusting through. and doors that are open at the bottom. anyways, it's a slow process but it's comming along. when i get done working on my heads i will be one step further.