question about valves and cleaning heads
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 75
Likes: 0
question about valves and cleaning heads i am trying to clean a set of heads that were recently done for a motor that ran way rich and washed out the rings. upon removal there is excessive amounts of oil/carbon deposits all throughout the chamber/exhaust valve/exhaust port.
needless to say i would like to remove the valves, clean the heads, and reinstall valves. im not sure what would be the best way to clean the ports and chamber, but i figure an engine cleaning brush and some degreaser should do the trick. with the valves, i think i would just use a drill and grey scuff pad.
as long as i keep the valves in order can i just put them back in, or would they need to be recut, or machined, or do they need to be lapped in?
these heads have less than 5k miles on them since they were milled and had a valve job on the stock valves. thank you
needless to say i would like to remove the valves, clean the heads, and reinstall valves. im not sure what would be the best way to clean the ports and chamber, but i figure an engine cleaning brush and some degreaser should do the trick. with the valves, i think i would just use a drill and grey scuff pad.
as long as i keep the valves in order can i just put them back in, or would they need to be recut, or machined, or do they need to be lapped in?
these heads have less than 5k miles on them since they were milled and had a valve job on the stock valves. thank you
If you keep the valves in order, no need to do any lapping. Just use aerosol carb cleaner from Wal-Mart, and a couple of small brushes. Spray, let it soak, spray, scrub, spray, let it soak, repeat as needed. I have pics somewhere of how well this works.
Same approach. You can use brillo pads, just be careful you don't get them on the 45 degree faces. In fact, better to do brillo pads by hand than scotch-brite pads at all. But I'd still start with a pre-soak with carb cleaner.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 75
Likes: 0
see thats what im afraid of. the valves are really dirty from all the oil the engine was pushing past the rings. i dont know how i would go about cleaning everything except the 45* cut. seems like my only option is to have the valves relapped in.
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i clean the mating surface of the heads to the engine block with a few methods...
1. Gasket Remover (~5$)
2. Scrape to remove large pieces of gasket
3. Scotch-Brite Pad (This won't hurt the heads)
the scotch-brite pads work amazing btw
1. Gasket Remover (~5$)
2. Scrape to remove large pieces of gasket
3. Scotch-Brite Pad (This won't hurt the heads)
the scotch-brite pads work amazing btw
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Verdad Gallardo Scotch brite pads can "eat" aluminum, even if you can't see it. I don't know if MLS can seal heads with low spots, and I'm not about to try it to find out. If you can't afford to do it right the first time, you sure can't afford to do it a second time.
I tear everything apart, keep EVERYTHING in order. the valves, springs, shims, keepers, pushrods all specific to its cylinder. I use brake clean and a gasket scraper or razor blade in vise grips if thats all you got to clean the intake, exhaust, head mating surfaces. I spray the whole head down with Simple Green concentrated or brake clean and scrub it with Scotch brite pads...inside the ports, chambers, etc...For the valves I use a wirewheel (like the kind that has a grinder on the opposite side), sometimes they come out like brand new. I always lap them in but if you dont hit the 45 angle with the wheel/scotch brite but takes alot longer, I dont see a reason you would have to but I don't see it hurting if you did.
