Are there any areas I can hand port/clean up without messing up valve seats?
I had a friend install bigger 1.59 inconel exhaust valves on my 317 heads. While he was at it he did a 5 angle valve job on both the stock intake and new exhaust valves and had the decks milled .003 to straighten them out.
Ideally I wanted to install titanium ls3 intake valves and have the heads ported first but he didn't know that and I can't complain about a free 5 angle valve job.
Just wondering if there are any areas I can hit or should I just leave them alone?

 

You can do a complete port job if you are careful. I've done it before but it's a little stressful trying to stay away from fresh seats. If you bump one he will have to at least relap that valve

 

+1 be careful. You can always put a layer of clay on the seats as a safety margin.

 

For combustion chamber port work get a set of stock valves to put in to help keep you off the seats. For seat work just be careful and you only need to knock down the area where the seat meets the aluminum runner and make the transition smooth. Basically get rid of the overhang where the machine work stopped on the head and the seat was pressed in. Leave the swirl ramps alone and radius the guide boss off a little, that helps more on the exhaust side though. Its worth doing but at a minimum you will probably have about 8 or so hours invested in them.

 

Thanks for the tips and insight guys, it'll definitely be stressful but a little less so knowing you guys have done it.