grumpyvette Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 NEW/HEADS, you should NOT just bolt them on! now Ill probably tick some guys off here, but I see enought heads come thru the shop to point out a comon problem, and its NOT limited to one or a couple manufacturers, Ive seen it on nearly every brand and type of cylinder head!, what Im refering to is bits of casting flash, bits of aluminum or cast iron chips from machine work or sloppy assembly, burred threads, threads that are not cleanly cut,ETC. on new out of the box cylinder heads, I won,t name brands BUT some of the top names have bits of aluminum chips/dust/crud left in the ports in as shipped heads and disassembly and use of a stiff tooth brush, high pressure air and carb cleaner spray along with reassembly with the proper lubricants and running a tap thru threads and cleaning all machined surfaces with solvent,is almost mandatory if your don,t want bits of crud washing around in the engine durring first starting the engine. it sure doesn,t hurt to check the spring bind and other clearances, and that the valve seals are correctly installed either IM sure the manufacturers used a high pressure air hose to blow out the ports and water passages, but theres comonly some crud remaining so inspect carefully, and clean those new heads BEFORE installing them , yes the cheaper brands seem more prone to this problem but even the best brands are comonly seen to be recieved in less than steller condition, and need some basic clean-up BTW, one of these tools comes in handy durring the inspection process http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=WMR%2DW89409&autoview=sku Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getZ Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I completely agree with your post. Not to name any names, but it rhymes with "fart" heads, a nice set of heads once the casting flashes were cleaned up and the chambers were smoothed out from a rough cast. It would have also been nice if they helicoiled some of the other holes like some other brands. I don't how true this is, but a guy who personaly knew some of the guys at PAW said they actualy took apart the new heads they got and cleaned them up because they got tired of being blamed for things like casting flashes. Good to know if I need another set of heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Secret Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Do you have a guess at how much a shop would charge to inspect some out-of-the-box heads? I understand that mistakes are made, and I agree that when you're dropping a few thousand in the motor that having heads inspected is clean insurance. I would really love to learn how to do this myself, might you happen to have any guides or recommendations to learn this stuff? As always, thanks grumpy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted December 5, 2007 Author Share Posted December 5, 2007 step 1 BUY AND READ THRU THESE 5 books, BEFORE you buy a single part, it will save you thousands of dollars and weeks of work, if you don,t have an excellent grasp of all the basic concepts youll make expensive mistakes http://www.themotorbookstore.com/resmchstvi.html JOHN LINGENFELTER on modifying small-block chevy engines http://www.amazon.com/John-Lingenfelter-Modifying-Chevy-Engines/dp/155788238X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196720184&sr=8-1 HOW TO BUILD MAX PERFORMANCE CHEVY SMALL BLOCKS ON A BUDGET by DAVID VIZARD http://www.amazon.com/Build-Performance-Blocks-Budget-Design/dp/1884089348/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196720274&sr=1-1 SMOKEY YUNICK,S POWER SECRETS http://www.amazon.com/Smokey-Yunicks-Power-Secrets-Yunick/dp/0931472067/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196720390&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1557880298/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/102-1234339-0571324?v=glance&s=books btw http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/131229/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Grumpy, on a "tool" note. My experince with the tool shown in your opening post that they will twist or distort if used on high pressure springs. The price shown for this Summitracing.com item indicates to me that it would be no better than my previous clamp in my attempts to compress the springs. Any comment or suggestion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Terry, my favorite is the type that screws on the rocker stud and knuckles over to compress the spring. The only dis is that if the head is off the engine you might need to stabilize the head depending on the springs. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 That is my favorite as well. In fact, I fabricated a device built off that idea that is tightened down on the rocker arm stud, which compresses the spring when the other side of the device pivots against the valve cover rail. I built it from an old stamped steel rocker arm, and it works okay, but I'd like a better one. I've seen pneumatic ones, but years ago when I searched for them online, I couldn't get any hits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted December 5, 2007 Author Share Posted December 5, 2007 Ive had my valve spring compressor for over 35 years and its similar in appearance, I have no IDEA what brand it is, I simply posted the picture to give some idea as too the tool used I nprobably got it from these guys http://www.goodson.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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