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Valve Guide Fixable?

1K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  johnsongrass1 
#1 ·
462 Head, broken guide. Look closely and you can see chatter marks on the guide.
 

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#3 ·
Bummer. I seriously doubt it's worth trying to fix- by the time you got it back to usable, you could have bought different head(s).

The last time I saw a guide that looked like that, the "machinist" a buddy found to do his Pontiac #13 heads used a ball broach to size the guide liners with. Yep- broke the top right off. :spank:
 
#7 · (Edited)
Devil's Advocate

A replacement guide will require the valve seat to be verified/corrected to still be in the correct place for the valve to seal, along with sizing the guide after installation.

If the seat has already seen a couple valve jobs and is sunken, this gets a bit more dicey than just drilling out the old and pressing in the new. In a worst case scenario, this could mean that larger valves and seats would be needed (provided these pressed-stud heads aren't already 2.02's)- a good modification in many cases. Or a new seat insert could be installed then blended in so the port flows as before. All routine stuff, but can add up, cost-wise.

But w/the cost of these heads dropping and production Vortec heads and aftermarket heads so cheap, the point of diminishing returns has to be considered.

This is much the same argument I constantly hear when I mention using production Vortec heads: By the time you do the work required to use the Vortec heads with a higher-than-stock lift camshaft (or so the story goes :rolleyes: ), you could just as easily buy a new set of heads.

While I do not necessarily agree w/that, there IS a fine line that, if crossed, means you've paid more to repair something than it would take to swap over to a better head to begin with.

My bottom line goes something like this: If these heads are near and dear to you, or they're fresh, or in excellent shape w/no valve recession from numerous valve jobs and/or no seat wear from no-lead fuel, it's all good.

Otherwise, see what it costs to put them right and compare that to the newer-tech heads or another set of 'humps.

EDIT- I see that they're going into the great beyond via the classifieds.:thumbup:
 
#9 ·
I agree to everything you have said. These being virgin castings with small valves, and already magged, I think they should help some one.


23' Dart heads, $1100 vs rebuilt 40 year old cast iron $800 no brainer ;)

Stupid Circle Track rules that mandate these things really get on my nerves. Promoters claim they save the racer money. Yet, the math doesn't add up.
 
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