Re: valve job on my 22nd series 8cyl.

Posted by Rusty O\'Toole On 2009/5/9 14:43:27

It's all according.

To do a real nice job, take all the valves out, clean them, check for wear, then lap them in with fine compound and reassemble. If none of them are burnt or badly worn. And if the valve stem is not too wobbly in the guide.

While you are at it check the cylinders for wear. If there is little or no ridge at the top of the cylinders, and all cylinders have a smooth mirror polish chances are the rings are fine.

.010 thou taper in the cylinders indicates bad wear. Scratches indicate broken rings. Pistons that look chewed, or have a hole in the middle, are bad too.

On the other hand if the valves are not badly rusted or gummed up there is a simpler way. Spray some oil around the valve stem. Make sure the cam is in the "valve closed" position. Give the valve a light tap with a small ball peen hammer right in the middle. Do not tap on the edge and you will not bend the valve.

The valve spring should pull the valve closed with a snap.

Turn the engine over a few times and if the valves are opening and closing normally, put the head back on and you are done.

By the way this all assumes that when the engine was running it had good oil pressure, there were no bangs raps or knocks, and it did not burn more than 1 quart of oil per 500 miles.

If it had no oil pressure, no power, there was a cloud of blue smoke out the back every place you went, and the engine sounded like a washing machine full of tin cans then all bets are off.