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Hey gang - hitting an absolute wall installing the exhaust valve guides. The intakes all went in with basically no fuss. I left them in the freezer and they dropped in. Guessing that the exhaust guides would be more trouble, I got some dry ice and left them to chill. Even still, two of the guides broke, and I managed to drive two others in over the course of an hour each, using my four-pound hammer. The Goodson driver is toast.

I don't know if it's technique, the product, my engine, or what. I ordered them from MM, and they appear to be NOS. On ice, the diameter measures out to 81/128" in the middle of the guide, just a SMIDGE over 5/8". The little bag says 403136, which is the right part number for a '50 327 exhaust valve guide. I've read other posts on this, doesn't seem like it should be this profoundly challenging. What am I missing?

I didn't find any difference between installing intake vs exhaust. The only thing that I can think of is that your exhaust guides are slightly tighter.

How does the size of your new guides compare to the ones your removed?

Not going to lie, I tossed the old exhaust guides - they were mostly destroyed coming out (which probably should've been my first clue). They do, however, match the diameter of the one intake guide I was able to extract intact.

I may try the reverse of the extraction method. It'll take twenty years to do it, but that might be a better strategy.

If the exhaust guides came out in pieces, is it possible the block got marked up a bit causing the guides to be harder to drive in? Or maybe the NOS exhaust guides need to be cleaned up a bit? Are they clean and smooth?

You mentioned that you anticipated the exhaust guides were going to be more difficult to install, is that because they were notably harder to remove? All of mine drove out in one piece, but I snapped the bottom half off once I drove them down part way, as per the service manual, because the camshaft was still in the engine.

I've only ever replaced the valve guides on my '53, which as I mentioned, they all came out and went in with the same force, and were not problematic......once I knew what I was doing.

All that to say, based on my very limited experience, I don't know why your exhaust guides, if the same size as the intake, are giving you so much trouble compared to your intake, or why your guides came out in pieces to start with. Maybe your driver is not adequate? Maybe your angle of attack is off?

Hopefully someone else has a better idea of what is going on.

Having worked on Packard engines since the '60s, I can offer no advice in this case because that's the one thing I would never consider doing myself. I leave valve guides to the professionals who have the equipment to remove and installed them properly without damage to the block.

Quote:

Don, where's your sense of adventure?!?! Valve guides are a piece of cake! The only equipment you need is a BIG hammer and a BIG driver!!

Joe I'm a bit concerned you gave a measurement in 1/128". That tells me you are using a $5 Vernier caliper or the like. Can you borrow a micrometer from somewhere to read it out to 0.001"?

Third one broke about a quarter inch from the landing zone. I'm going to finish getting this one out and stop trying to get these guides to work. I suspect I was lucky to get two of them to go. I'll pursue some NEW guides, as opposed to NOS. If that doesn't work, then I'll give up and call in the professionals.

Yes, it can do that - I'll change the mode. Sorry about that.

Old not on ice: .6330
NOS on dry ice now for six hours: .6330
NOS Not on ice: .6340