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Nick on Valve Stem....HELP!!!

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Old May 2, 2006 | 12:49 AM
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Default Nick on Valve Stem....HELP!!!

Alright i'm installing my dual springs and on the last one i notice a nice size nick about half way up on the valve stem. Its like it came bad from the factory, the valve covers have never been off till now.

Its pretty small but defintaly noticable, it feels pretty sharp when running my finger over it. Now what i'm worried about is with the more lift of my cam that nick is going to run over the valve seal and ruin the seal.


I'm just trying to get an idea of what you guys think, should i not worry about it or am I looking at replaceing that valve, cuase i have to do that i might as well get some new heads.

Thanks a lot for the help

Justin
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Old May 2, 2006 | 01:28 AM
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You could use some fine sandpaper to smooth it out. It probably won't take much to remove it.
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Old May 2, 2006 | 01:30 AM
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yea i was thinking of that, its kinda deep though, also its kinda a pain to get to. Its the very back valve, but thanks a lot for the input.

Justin
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Old May 2, 2006 | 01:48 AM
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If its real deep and not just nick on the surface, it could cause a stress point and eventually break. I had to rescue one of my friends about 3 hours away that broke a valve in half that has a imperfection, don't know what started it, but his seemed like it was made that way. Post up a pic if you have access to a camera.
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Old May 2, 2006 | 01:51 AM
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problem is its on the back side of the valve, i tried using a mirror to take a pic of it, but just couldn't get a good pic. Anyways it feels like if you took the valve and nicked it on a spinning wheel.
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Old May 2, 2006 | 02:03 AM
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Are you using compressed air? You can rotate the valve very easily if you remove the pressure, just hold both valves in place with a zip tie and then reconnect the air after you rotate the valve.
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Old May 2, 2006 | 02:06 AM
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yea i'm using compressed air, i'll try that, and see if i can get a better pic.
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Old May 2, 2006 | 09:44 PM
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well today i was able to spin the valve around and its worse then i thought it was. I can see stress cracks coming from that nick, so no point even snapping a pic. So heads are defintaly coming off the car and i'm looking into just getting a new set of heads.

So Joeseph i'll be calling you guys at TSP tomorrow, i'm thinking about those dart heads but i'm still up in the air as of right now.

Justin
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Old May 3, 2006 | 05:15 AM
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WOW, good thing you caught this now, it could have wiped out your motor.
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Old May 3, 2006 | 05:18 AM
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yea that was the same thing i thought, i'm really happy i cought it.
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Old May 3, 2006 | 06:47 AM
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Definitely a good thing you caught that....you may have had a problem like I had...
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Old May 5, 2006 | 05:05 PM
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Ordered dart 225's today along with some .040 cometic gaskets(8.5 DCR)

Should be here mid next week, can't wait to start this bad boy up. Just have to check my PtoV now

Justin
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Old May 5, 2006 | 05:49 PM
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How big is your motor? 346?
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Old May 5, 2006 | 05:51 PM
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yep 346
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Old May 5, 2006 | 05:55 PM
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Aren't those 225's a little big for that motor?
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Old May 5, 2006 | 05:58 PM
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This would be true if i was running a smaller cam, but since i have so much lift and curtian area with the LSK lobe i'm spending a lot of time above .500 lift so i want to maximize that area.

Justin
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Old May 5, 2006 | 06:10 PM
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Well, if I had the money for a set of those, I assure you I would buy them too!
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Old May 5, 2006 | 06:56 PM
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From: Little Rhody
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Uh, you may have too much lift for the Dart valve springs. They are installed at 1.750" with a coil bind of 1.1". You may have a problem with them.
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Old May 5, 2006 | 06:58 PM
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taking their springs off selling them, and putting my comp 921's on them that i had.
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Old May 5, 2006 | 07:04 PM
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Great, what tool are you using to remove them?
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