Over the weekend I replaced the valve seals and photo documented the step-by-step process of how this job can be done w/o removing the heads. I thought I would post this to help others out who might be thinking about this job as well.
Total time invested was about 6 hours, cost was $15 for the tool rental and about $0.29 x 16 for the valve seals.
This replacement was done on a '66 289, but should be applicable to most years (I would think).
Before starting, take all the necessary safety precautions - disconnect negative batt cable, chock wheels, tranny in park, fender protectors. Also you'll need the following tools in addition to your regular socket set:
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal1.jpg
From left to right you'll see a telescoping magnet, needle-nose pliers, valve spring compressor and a screwdriver.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal2.jpg
The other 'specialty' tool you'll need is a length of rope. Mine was about 2-3' long. Tie a knot in one end. You’ll see why this is needed later.
Before starting on one side, I highly recommend clearing as much space as possible. Unbolt the cowl-shock tower brace, unplug spark plug wires, tie heater hoses up, remove air cleaner, etc. Once you’ve got that done, remove the rocker cover and let’s go to work.
Step 1 – Where’s TDC? After removing the spark plug, turn the crank with your breakover, watching the valves on the cylinder you’re attacking. We’re looking for the point when the intake valve has just closed, signaling that the piston is about to start coming up the bore on the compression stroke. Now, some folks can feel the air coming out of the spark plug hole and tell when the piston is at TDC. I ain’t that talented, so I stick a screwdriver in the plug hole.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal4.jpg
Once the screwdriver stops getting pushed out, I know I’m at TDC. Back the crank in the opposite direction about ½ a turn to move the piston back down the bore just a touch.
Step 2 - What’s the Octane rating of Rope? Feed the rope into the cylinder through the spark plug hole. You’ll want to shove as much rope in as you can, leaving just the knot sticking out of the hole. Reason being, you want to completely fill the combustion chamber with rope so the valves have something to rest against. Once you’ve got the rope fed through the hole, rotate the crank clockwise until you feel the positive stop indicating that the piston has compressed the rope against the top of the combustion chamber.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal5.jpg
Step 3 – Muscles Part 1. Loosen the rockers enough to allow them to rotate off the pushrods and the top of the valve stems. I found the pictured orientation to be the easiest to work with in subsequent steps.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal6.jpg
Step 4 – Muscles Part 2. Every valve spring compressor is different, but the image below shows the way I had to work mine. Regardless of the geometry and set-up of your compressor, the idea is to push on the top of the valve retainer until the keepers pop loose, like this:
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal7.jpg
Note that if you can press on the retainer and feel no resistance then the rope didn’t get under this valve. You’ll need to repeat steps 1 and 2. I had to do this a few times, so don’t feel bad if this happens to you. If you’ve got a particularly cranky set of keepers, a tiny shot of PB Blaster also works wonders.
Step 5 – Dexterity. Now, remove the keepers. I found the magnet to come in handy here. Pushing on the compressor with one hand, I grabbed the keepers with the magnet in the other hand.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal8.jpg
Once they are out of the way, the spring will come all the way up. Remove the spring and retainer.
Step 6 – Bad seal. BAD! The offending seal can be seen sitting innocently enough on the guide.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal9.jpg
Problem is this guy and his 15 accomplices are big enough that the spring was actually picking them up and moving them off the guide. I had some seals come right out with the spring. Comparing the old and the new, you can see that the new seals are a lot smaller, have a plastic sleeve and a wire retaining band. No more moving seals after this job is done.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal10.jpg
Step 7 – Where’s the Tylenol? After a little oil to lube the seal, press it down over the guide. Easier said than done. There’s not a whole lot of room, and the only thing that worked was pushing down with my thumbs. HARD. I had problems typing on Monday after this job. Anyway, seal is in place.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal11.jpg
Step 8 – Dexterity Part 2… After getting the spring and retainer back in place and getting the compressor all ready to go, it’s time to re-install the keepers. Again, easier said than done. You’ll find you need about four hands to hold the compressor and try to get the keeper back where it belongs. I don’t know how many times I had to search the floor for a dropped keeper, but it was a bunch. I found that if I grabbed the top of the keeper with the needlenose pliers I could get it in position about 75% of the time, as shown below:
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal12.jpg
Once the keepers are in, let up on the spring. You’ll know if you got them in right, as they will settle into the groove and the retainer will stop right where it should.
Repeat these steps for the other valve, back the crank off and remove the rope (I sure hope you remembered to tie a knot in it), re-install the spark plug and move to the next cylinder. It’s a time-consuming, frustrating job, but it sure beats the heck out of taking the heads off – keep telling yourself this while you’re looking for that damn keeper that fell for the fourth time.
Eric
Total time invested was about 6 hours, cost was $15 for the tool rental and about $0.29 x 16 for the valve seals.
This replacement was done on a '66 289, but should be applicable to most years (I would think).
Before starting, take all the necessary safety precautions - disconnect negative batt cable, chock wheels, tranny in park, fender protectors. Also you'll need the following tools in addition to your regular socket set:
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal1.jpg
From left to right you'll see a telescoping magnet, needle-nose pliers, valve spring compressor and a screwdriver.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal2.jpg
The other 'specialty' tool you'll need is a length of rope. Mine was about 2-3' long. Tie a knot in one end. You’ll see why this is needed later.
Before starting on one side, I highly recommend clearing as much space as possible. Unbolt the cowl-shock tower brace, unplug spark plug wires, tie heater hoses up, remove air cleaner, etc. Once you’ve got that done, remove the rocker cover and let’s go to work.
Step 1 – Where’s TDC? After removing the spark plug, turn the crank with your breakover, watching the valves on the cylinder you’re attacking. We’re looking for the point when the intake valve has just closed, signaling that the piston is about to start coming up the bore on the compression stroke. Now, some folks can feel the air coming out of the spark plug hole and tell when the piston is at TDC. I ain’t that talented, so I stick a screwdriver in the plug hole.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal4.jpg
Once the screwdriver stops getting pushed out, I know I’m at TDC. Back the crank in the opposite direction about ½ a turn to move the piston back down the bore just a touch.
Step 2 - What’s the Octane rating of Rope? Feed the rope into the cylinder through the spark plug hole. You’ll want to shove as much rope in as you can, leaving just the knot sticking out of the hole. Reason being, you want to completely fill the combustion chamber with rope so the valves have something to rest against. Once you’ve got the rope fed through the hole, rotate the crank clockwise until you feel the positive stop indicating that the piston has compressed the rope against the top of the combustion chamber.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal5.jpg
Step 3 – Muscles Part 1. Loosen the rockers enough to allow them to rotate off the pushrods and the top of the valve stems. I found the pictured orientation to be the easiest to work with in subsequent steps.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal6.jpg
Step 4 – Muscles Part 2. Every valve spring compressor is different, but the image below shows the way I had to work mine. Regardless of the geometry and set-up of your compressor, the idea is to push on the top of the valve retainer until the keepers pop loose, like this:
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal7.jpg
Note that if you can press on the retainer and feel no resistance then the rope didn’t get under this valve. You’ll need to repeat steps 1 and 2. I had to do this a few times, so don’t feel bad if this happens to you. If you’ve got a particularly cranky set of keepers, a tiny shot of PB Blaster also works wonders.
Step 5 – Dexterity. Now, remove the keepers. I found the magnet to come in handy here. Pushing on the compressor with one hand, I grabbed the keepers with the magnet in the other hand.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal8.jpg
Once they are out of the way, the spring will come all the way up. Remove the spring and retainer.
Step 6 – Bad seal. BAD! The offending seal can be seen sitting innocently enough on the guide.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal9.jpg
Problem is this guy and his 15 accomplices are big enough that the spring was actually picking them up and moving them off the guide. I had some seals come right out with the spring. Comparing the old and the new, you can see that the new seals are a lot smaller, have a plastic sleeve and a wire retaining band. No more moving seals after this job is done.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal10.jpg
Step 7 – Where’s the Tylenol? After a little oil to lube the seal, press it down over the guide. Easier said than done. There’s not a whole lot of room, and the only thing that worked was pushing down with my thumbs. HARD. I had problems typing on Monday after this job. Anyway, seal is in place.
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal11.jpg
Step 8 – Dexterity Part 2… After getting the spring and retainer back in place and getting the compressor all ready to go, it’s time to re-install the keepers. Again, easier said than done. You’ll find you need about four hands to hold the compressor and try to get the keeper back where it belongs. I don’t know how many times I had to search the floor for a dropped keeper, but it was a bunch. I found that if I grabbed the top of the keeper with the needlenose pliers I could get it in position about 75% of the time, as shown below:
http://www.gbronline.com/edavis51/images/ValveSeals/valveseal12.jpg
Once the keepers are in, let up on the spring. You’ll know if you got them in right, as they will settle into the groove and the retainer will stop right where it should.
Repeat these steps for the other valve, back the crank off and remove the rope (I sure hope you remembered to tie a knot in it), re-install the spark plug and move to the next cylinder. It’s a time-consuming, frustrating job, but it sure beats the heck out of taking the heads off – keep telling yourself this while you’re looking for that damn keeper that fell for the fourth time.
Eric
