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Having 289 heads rebuilt

957 views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  macstang 
#1 ·
I dropped off the heads from my 289 this morning for a down and dirty cheap rebuild. My tale of woe can be found here if interested.

https://forums.vintage-mustang.com/vintage-mustang-forum/1124602-fix-upgrade-rail-rocker-heads.html

The point of my new thread is to post my experience as I didn't find a great deal of directly related posts. The heads in question are the rail rocker type with the round push rod holes and press in studs. The condition and specifications of the engine and heads are largely unknown as I only bought the car a couple of years ago and have concentrated on the body to this point. As the heads were so poorly prepared I am assuming the rest of the engine is also questionable. As a result I am doing the least amount possible to the heads in an effort to get the car back on the road.

My direction to the machine shop so far is as follows:

1. new valves - approx. $85
2. basic valve job - $150
3. new rail-style rockers - $190
4. umbrella valve stems - $16
5. clean and degrease (no magnaflux or bead blasting) - $20

The valve guides have been knurled. If there is too much slop, either oversized valve stem diameter, or new guides if needed- approx. $160

Crossing my fingers that the valve seats are ok, but approx. 160 for install, plus 65 for hardened exhaust seats.

Is it exciting? Nope, only documenting one guy's experience. More to come. Heads will be ready late next week and I hope to install them over the long weekend.
 
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#2 ·
I dislike the concept of knurled guides. I always opt for iron sleeves. When my HP heads were out last, I had them looked at. Needed 5 hardened seats. I opted for 16 instead.
 
#5 ·
i agree on the knurled guides. the problem is that when the sharp points on the knurling wear off, you then have the previous amount of slop in the guides. however i disagree with the iron sleeves, i instead prefer bronze sleeves as i feel they are better overall. but in defense of 22gt, this is personal preference. both types of sleeves will do fine over the long run.

as for the hardened seats, in this day in age i feel you dont need them since the refineries do put a lubricant in the gasoline they sell to the public. valve recession does not happen as fast as many have proclaimed in the past, in fact even with unleaded fuel from back when the lead was first removed, it still took 70,000 miles for the seats to recess.
 
#4 ·
Recently had mine converted to hardened seats as well. Shop was diagnosing water/coolant in the oil (ended up being water coolant getting past the head gasket into the lifter valley) and discovered one of the rockers was wearing on the spring retainer. The machine shop further noticed that the retainer keepers were sinking into the aluminum retainers. Would've eventually worn through/broke the retainer and dropped a valve. Ended up replacing the valves, valve spring retainers, keepers, and installed new guides and hardened exhaust seats. The machinist also performed a three-angle valve and seat job to assist with better flow. Also swapped out the rockers for Comp rollers to reduce/eliminate wear on the new valves and guides. Now I won't have to run Supreme plus an octane boost and won't have to worry about the heads for many, many years.
 
#6 ·
If the heads were run for a long time or if they have sat for a long time and rusted up pretty good, it is common for a shop to do a minimal flat cut to re-surface them. I don't think this costs a lot but it does a lot sometimes.
 
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