When you have someone do a valve job, do they remove the valves and springs? I really don't know what's involved in a valve job.

 

You don't know much about engines do you?
Heads are completely disassembled, cleaned, deck checked for true then milled if necessary, valve seats ground to spec, valves ground OR new ones put in, them all is reassembled and returned to owner.

 

Yes, the heads must be disassembled in order to perform a valve job. In the picture below, the pink area is where the machining is done. Most professional shops have a machine that will cut the valve job using carbide blades, some smaller shops use a setup where a stone grinds the valve job.

 

Not sure what your trying to accomplish ? But short of a multi angle professional vj .There is a procedure which is not a vj called lapping . This is a budget overhaul method to put a refinish grind on the seat.This can be done at very little expense.and does not require removing the valves.

 

better to find someplace that does a cnc valve job, it will keep the valve tips closer to the same height which is needed with our nonadjustable rockers. Sometimes with a ground valve job the heights will be all over the place.

 

Getting the lapping compound in between the valve and seat is going to be a neat trick. You still have to remove the springs, so you might as well pull the valves out and clean everything good.

 

I left all of that up to my builder/machine shop. I was just curious about what all is involved. Someone that asks that sort of question has no business doing it himself, lol. Thanks, folks.

 

Lapping is part of a VJ: it is the final process that seals the valve to the seat. Pretty much ALWAYS done. Mostly just removes fine irregularities: if it has to do any more than that, something wasn't done right beforehand. Or the valves are bent/warped. Usually done after the cutting & grinding, using some sort of very fine compound. (I usually use "Clover"... DO NOT buy the TRW or Loctite/Permatex stuff in a tube, it is like gravel) You can easily do it with a power drill. Typically you can have your seats cut, then buy new valves, then lap them; as long as everything is concentric and at the right angle, it'll all mate right up.

In the photo up there with the red Dykem, the narrow band all the way around the seat, was made by lapping.

 

Hey Brock...in the words of the great Carl Sagan...

"There are naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, questions put after inadequate self-criticism. But every question is a cry to understand the world. There is no such thing as a dumb question".

 

The modern Serdi machine race motor builders use make lapping obsolete.

 

I used to lap the valves after a valve job just to visually ensure the seat angles were concentric. That's the dull gray ring in the pink area for those unfamiliar.