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Valve tip damage from bad rocker geometry

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Old Apr 12, 2026 | 08:17 AM
  #21  
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Update: well, I found where some of the tip of that valve went... All lifters checked out on the driver side, the rollers spin without issue, but cylinder 5's intake lifter had some impressions on its roller that appear to match the same steel that came off of the valve tips.
Cylinder 1's intake lifter was a different story, it was stuck in the bore when I tried to remove it. After oiling it and spinning it, I was able to get it removed. However, I found tiny chunks of what I theorize to be steel (I sadly didn't save the debris to check it....). Those tiny chunks were causing the lifter to not want to come out - however, nothing was found on the roller of the lifter, and since cleaning out the bore, the lifter slides in and out normally now.

The bore does have one spot that I can feel (the one I point out with the arrow), the other markings in the bore are smooth (and appear to be cosmetic marks)


Photo Cylinder 5s lifter with some embedded damage (presumably the steel from the valve tips)



I got the heads back from the machine shop, they said the valve guides were in great shape - everything else looked good. I had him replace my valves with these:
https://www.michiganmotorsports.com/...2+LS+Valve+Set

I will be reviewing the passenger side today to see if I get any more surprises - for now, I am thinking of at least replacing cylinder 5s damaged lifter, an running with the bore damage on cylinder 1 since it is kept to the inside of the bore, and does not go out either end.
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Old Apr 16, 2026 | 08:01 PM
  #22  
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I had my 10k mile and 2k mile CHE trunnion kit sent off to CHE directly and they looked it over. They said they have never seen anything like this ever..... Apparently I am the first of my kind - I don't have photos of the 10k mile CHE kit in this post, but they were trashed hard and had very bad uneven wear. I will be getting a new CHE kit + new rockers + replacing 2 or 3 lifters that had some pitting. My heads are also back from the shop with new valves. I will check what pushrods I need, but I think after all of this, I should be good to go....

I am also just going to ignore the lifter bore damage and just replace the lifter.
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Old Apr 16, 2026 | 08:44 PM
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Originally Posted by 3dk1
I had my 10k mile and 2k mile CHE trunnion kit sent off to CHE directly and they looked it over. They said they have never seen anything like this ever..... Apparently I am the first of my kind - I don't have photos of the 10k mile CHE kit in this post, but they were trashed hard and had very bad uneven wear. I will be getting a new CHE kit + new rockers + replacing 2 or 3 lifters that had some pitting. My heads are also back from the shop with new valves. I will check what pushrods I need, but I think after all of this, I should be good to go....

I am also just going to ignore the lifter bore damage and just replace the lifter.
If you had the engine tore down, I would run a cross buff down that lifter hole at a medium rpm with quick up and down honing motions, a few strokes. You don’t want that burr you can feel to cause binding…which it will if you can feel it by hand. It will gall up and cause you binding issues if it’s not addressed. Typical lifter bore to lifter clearance is .0015.
But since you don’t have this thing tore down, I don’t know what to tell you, as far as getting that burr out of there. I measure every lifter hole on every build with a dial bore gauge to tell me what’s going on. Never assume it’s going to work out by itself…it never does.
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Old Apr 18, 2026 | 09:19 AM
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Originally Posted by Che70velle
If you had the engine tore down, I would run a cross buff down that lifter hole at a medium rpm with quick up and down honing motions, a few strokes. You don’t want that burr you can feel to cause binding…which it will if you can feel it by hand. It will gall up and cause you binding issues if it’s not addressed. Typical lifter bore to lifter clearance is .0015.
But since you don’t have this thing tore down, I don’t know what to tell you, as far as getting that burr out of there. I measure every lifter hole on every build with a dial bore gauge to tell me what’s going on. Never assume it’s going to work out by itself…it never does.
Would you pull the motor if this was your motor?
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Old Apr 19, 2026 | 05:42 AM
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Originally Posted by Che70velle
If you had the engine tore down, I would run a cross buff down that lifter hole at a medium rpm with quick up and down honing motions, a few strokes. You don’t want that burr you can feel to cause binding…which it will if you can feel it by hand. It will gall up and cause you binding issues if it’s not addressed. Typical lifter bore to lifter clearance is .0015.
But since you don’t have this thing tore down, I don’t know what to tell you, as far as getting that burr out of there. I measure every lifter hole on every build with a dial bore gauge to tell me what’s going on. Never assume it’s going to work out by itself…it never does.
Would this be a good time to use the goodson lifter bore burnishing tool? It says it removes burrs caused by shot blasting.

Last edited by Keith; Apr 19, 2026 at 11:45 PM.
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Old Apr 19, 2026 | 08:45 PM
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Originally Posted by 3dk1
Would you pull the motor if this was your motor?
I would...
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Old Apr 20, 2026 | 07:13 AM
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Originally Posted by 1FastBrick
I would...
Hmm, been doing some thinking, it does seem possible to smooth it out with the motor still in the car. I would just need to set up a method to catch any metal after smoothing it out.

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Old Apr 20, 2026 | 09:09 PM
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Originally Posted by 3dk1
Would you pull the motor if this was your motor?
Sorry guys, I had to go out of town for the weekend. I would absolutely pull this engine and tear it down IF the burr is as you say it is. I can measure that burr and make a determination at that time…it’s impossible to tell over the webz what to do here, from my location.
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Old Apr 20, 2026 | 09:13 PM
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Originally Posted by 3dk1
Hmm, been doing some thinking, it does seem possible to smooth it out with the motor still in the car. I would just need to set up a method to catch any metal after smoothing it out.
That is the entire issue at hand…cleanliness. Oil gallery is right there. Sticky, oil covered camshaft is right there. You’re not going to be able to keep debris out of harms way…just not going to happen. Having said that, I see guys doing sloppy rebuilds and almost purposely leaving dirt, grime, debris in an engine and it turn out ok in their videos. That’s fine if it’s only gotta run for a few miles. If you want this repair to involve reliability, then if it’s in my shop, it’s all coming apart.
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Old Apr 21, 2026 | 08:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Che70velle
That is the entire issue at hand…cleanliness. Oil gallery is right there. Sticky, oil covered camshaft is right there. You’re not going to be able to keep debris out of harms way…just not going to happen. Having said that, I see guys doing sloppy rebuilds and almost purposely leaving dirt, grime, debris in an engine and it turn out ok in their videos. That’s fine if it’s only gotta run for a few miles. If you want this repair to involve reliability, then if it’s in my shop, it’s all coming apart.
I agree, very hard / basically impossible to prevent debris from getting in.

My current theory is to take photos of the oil gallery with a bore scope to reference to check if it gets contaminated, then take a microfiber towel stuffed at the base of the lifter bore, and use 400 grit sandpaper that has been oiled up with a dowel and make only a few sweeps over the burr. I will check clearance before and after to confirm.
I would then try to carefully clean around anything that may have been left behind over the towel and pull it out. Then I can use the bore scope again to check the oil gallery for any debris that I missed, and then clean it out if I left anything. (Again, this is no where near as good as just pulling the motor, and a massive risk that may not be worth it)

If I do it carefully like open heart surgery, I might get away with it.... maybe. Although I am not a surgeon, but I do have small hands, not having a beer before doing it, should mean I have good chances of success.
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Old Apr 22, 2026 | 07:42 AM
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Originally Posted by 3dk1
not having a beer before doing it, should mean I have good chances of success.
I have the opposite policy in my garage, lol
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