Ive searched on this site, and although there are many instructions on changing valve seals, are there any instructions with pictures? I need to change them on my 305 TPI. Pictures would help make it a lot easier. Also does the Chilton or Haynes repair manual for these cars include instructions or pics of changing the valve seals?. Thanks guys. Other referrals would also work. Thanks again.

I'm doing a set this weekend, I could take some pictures then.

It's pretty straightfoward though, once you start doing it and seeing it all in front of you the descriptions make sense.

Man. Much appreciated. That would great if you could do that. Doesnt have to be elaborate. A few pictures will do. Thanks again. By the way, what kind are you installing?....I just need some good replacements, not too expensive for a 87 305 TPI. Any suggestions?.

chiltons or haynes repair manuals will show you step by step on how to do it pretty simple

Fel-Pro SS72527

They're listed as intake valve seals, but get two sets and use them on the exhaust, too.

Get a pic of your car(s?) too I'm curious what you drive.

Nah, too ugly for pictures.

get stock replacment and grind valve seals to valves for proper seating on valve

Grind???...Im not grinding s***. That usually means you either got the wrong part or your doing something wrong. Theres got to be a replacement that doent involve grinding or modifictaion of any sort.

There'll be no grinding involved, don't worry.

I just did a set on my car along with valve springs. The biggest thing to remember that your Haynes manual won't illustrate is that the umbrella's and retainers go on and are compressed before the seals go onto the stems, after that the locks go on and you release the spring. I got the clamp style compressor rental from Auto Zone and it made it a breeze, just ran compressed air into the cylinders, clamped old springs (had to tap a few of them to get the retainers off the locks) pull the old and install the new. This was for the O ring stem seals, the intake style seals are the same but they go on before everything, mine were newer so I left those alone. Now that these are on the car doesn't smoke a BIT on startup.

I won't be having any umbrellas in the pictures. I use positive seals on all cylinders. I suppose they're similar enough, though.

If Im going to have my cylinder heads off to change the gaskets, would it make the job a little easier? Im figuring I wont be needing the air compressor adapters if the cylinder heads are off. Would I still be needing the valve spring compressor??

yes you'll still need a valve spring compressor... most autoparts stores that rent tools will have 2 versions... an on the block one and a off the block one.... either one will work off the block..... but the off the block one wont work with the heads on the block!

yes you'll still need a valve spring compressor... most autoparts stores that rent tools will have 2 versions... an on the block one and a off the block one.... either one will work off the block..... but the off the block one wont work with the heads on the block!


** Edit.. whoops double post!**

Yeah, do it with the heads off for sure.

Ok, I didn't know what to take pictures of really, so here's a few. Actually doing the seals only takes a minute or two per cylinder. The fun and frustration comes from getting at them. As with everything else under the hood, a little patience goes a long way.

This is what you get in the intake valve seal kit. Eight positive seals, 8 o-rings and the little plastic installation tool.



Depend on which type of valve spring compressor you use, you don't have to remove the rocker to do the valve seals, just back the nut off until you can turn it out of the way. If you count the turns and you're careful not to disturb the nut, you don't even have to cold lash the valves again afterwards.


This is the type of compressor I like to use. Any type of on-the-head compressor will work, though. If you're doing it with the heads off, I like the giant C-clamp type best.



This is what you'll see when you take the valvespring off an intake valve. Exhaust valves are similar, but don't have the positive seal at the bottom. You can see the offensive O ring in the second groove. This is also pretty much what they'll look like after you've put the new seals on, just a little cleaner and shinier.



As soon as you touch it, you'll know why they leak.



This is what the valve stem and guide look like with the seals removed. Both the intake and exhaust valve guides are machined this way, so they'll both take positive seals with no problems.

-what did you use to hold the valve up?

-did you put the exhaust rotators and umbrellas back on? Do you need umbrellas with positive valve seals? And did you use the o-rings as well?

-would it be worth removing the rotators and shimming the spring up, since you're there?

I use an air holder to keep the valves up. If you have access to compressed air, I find it more convenient than the rope trick.



I didn't do anything to the springs and retainers at all, they stayed in the compressor the whole time.



If it was a performance engine where I was worried about valvetrain weight, or if I cared enough, then the rotators would go. It just didn't matter to me this time, though.

I use both the positive seals and the O rings. Not really any reason not to. Stock, there are no umbrellas on the exhaust valves, only the O rings. I don't think there'd even be enough room under there for positive seals and umbrellas together.

Thanks a lot Apeiron! This really helps. What kit did you use for this, and where di yiou purchase it. Also, do I just buy (2) of these kits, and use one for intake, and one for exhaust??. Would it be a good idea to change the retainers on the springs? I too am like you, and dont care much for valvetrain weight.

The kit is in the first picture, Fel Pro SS 72527. You can buy it at any parts store that sells Fel Pro gaskets. One kit does 8 valves, so buy two to do both the intake and the exhaust.

If you want to use umbrellas on the exhaust instead of the positive seals, you can buy a set of SS 72877 for the exhaust and SS 72527 for the intakes.

You might also want or need to replace the valvecover gaskets, too. Get the counterperson to look them up by application.

All these part numbers are for stock heads, by the way. Older heads, or aftermarket heads might not be machined the same.

I didn't change any of the valvetrain parts on my car, it's not a performance engine. If I was putting a hotter cam in or something, then I'd change everything.

OK Apeiron,i just did the felpro umbrella seals on my 3rd gen,and its stilll smoking.it doesn't smoke with the car running at idle but when i rev it wow, here comes the smoke.i just found this thread & read through it.i didn't use the o-ring seals on either the int. or exh. sides i thought that you just used your choice umbrella or o-ring.i guess i need to pull the valve covers off &try again huh?i had the same problem prior to the seal replacement,and at first i thought that there was just still some oil in the heads that needed to burn off.or is that hopefully just what i need to do? i haven't even driven this car yet just been working on it on weekends.do i need to put the pos. seals on the valve stems? also, i am using the same valve spring comp. &compressed air

I just got done replacing my valve springs and seals, and this thread helped me out a lot.

I didn't use an air compressor or rope to keep the valves up. I found by rotating the crank to get TDC on the cylinder I was working on the valves wouldn't fall into the motor. Don't forget to move it for every cylinder, as I almost lost 2 valves! The valve seals were able to hold it up for reinstalling the springs.

Just my

The amount of pain and suffering involved in retrieving a dropped valve makes it not worth the chance.

what is the plastic installation tool for. just to push the positive seal down? normally I just put some engine lube on the valve stem and it slides fairly easy.

Defintely risky, I almost freaked when I saw it pushed in. My headers prevent me froming getting to some of the spark plugs even to change them, let alone the compressed air adapter.
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The reason for the plastic tool is to keep the valve stem grooves from messing up the seal.

Funny you should mention that, I replaced my springs last week and did EXACTLY that. I didn't feel like yanking those plugs out, they're such a pain in the ***. I marked the balancer at 90 degree increments from the timing mark, went TDC on #1, then rotated the crank the appropriate number of quarter-turns to do each cylinder. I just made sure to do the intake valve first, in case I had the wrong cylinder. The intake is coming off next, I would've (hopefully) been able to fish any dropped intake valves back into place through the open ports. Well that was my theory, I didn't need to test it.

#8 was by far the worst for me. The AIR line from the converter was in the way, as was the HVAC crap on the firewall. I wound up using a lever-type compressor to get the old springs off, then the screw-type to put the new ones in. Worked like a charm.

As for the valve seals, I just pushed them on with the drive end of an old socket.