I had my shop install a set of new stainless S1 valves. But based on the fact that nearly everything he did this last time seems to have been done in 15 minutes and without care, how do I tell if the valve tip height is correct on my heads? The heads are already installed on the block. Thanks.
Jeff - For a real quick 'eyeball' method, grab a long enough straight edge and put it straight across all 8 of the valve tips. You shouldn't have any that differ more than .010". That doesn't 'guarantee' that he did it right...but if they all look pretty even - at least there's a good chance. Ideally you would want to take all the springs and retainers off (keep them in order for now - he 'may' have done things right). Measure from the bottom of the spring pad to the top of the valve tip - it should measure 2.080" +/- a few thous. Hope that helps ya!
Thanks Scott. What is the spring pad? I had my heads cut to accept the dual valve springs. So where on the head do I measure from, exactly? Thanks! They are New In Box valves. What would make them not be OK? Just the valve job cutting on the seat?
Measure from where the bottom of the spring goes up to the tip of the valve. Hopefully, they cut your spring pads correct and only cut the OD bigger and not deeper into the head!! Your valves should be fine. Biggest concern is whether they 'sunk' the position of the valve seat! If you went from stock valves to Stage 1's - you 'should' be OK. The new seat area would be farther out and should have cleaned up pretty quickly....hopefully they didn't cut them too deep. Cutting new seats moves the tip of the valve up higher from the spring pad. Next step should be for the shop to trim the tip of the valve to restore the correct 'tip height'. *Have you tried sitting a straightedge across the tops of all 8 valves? What kind of gaps are there? Do all or most of the valves look to be the same height?
If your valve heights are off a bit, as long as the longest measurement is within specs, you can shim the others up to get everything equal with special washers. Aren't these guys who do nothing but Chebbies a pain in the butt.
Phillip - You're right about needing to shim the springs differently, if the heights end up being all over the place! BUT...if doesn't address the tip of the valve being too high. The high ones will have to be trimmed. Good point about the spring pressures though! Jeff - if there aren't any shims under any of the springs (IF some of the tip heights are way off), I'd definitely plan to have those checked too.
Valve Springs? Hey Jeff, I can't remember exactly, but didn't I see single springs on those heads? It could have been you just have the outer springs of the double springs on there and in that case I understand.
Anybody, Out of the box, how much play is there between the top of the valve stem and the lock and retainer? I once read that the was not much room for correction with the Buick setup.
