MR. Co-administrater   ;  TED  ;  Iv'e never installed smaller valves as replacements  .... and I havn't bought any in recent years , so I'm behind the times especially on price's . Thankyou .... ALAN B .

Alan.  Takes more than a simple reaming to install sodium valves in place of standard valve stems.  For the Y engines, you’re talking about going from 11/32” to 7/16”.  Much of the time, we’re going the other way around in taking heads that originally had sodium exhaust valves and switching the valves out to ones with standard sized valve stems.  In these cases, new guides are installed.  Daniel was commenting on the oversize valve stems (0.015") that use to be available that simply allowed for the guides to be reamed and not require knurling.  As has been brought up, finding these valves for the Y with slightly oversized stems is now difficult by lieu of manufacturers sticking with the fast moving parts end of the business.

Daniel probably likes being called SUPREME but the name Supreme Being does get attached to the heavy posters on the board.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

SUPREME  ;   Sodium Valves are oversize ... you must ream the guides to install them ...  Common use is in propane powered Trucks ,  They are expensive !!!   ALAN B .

Daniel,  Those are likely the same articles or similar to what I read in Cars and Parts Magazine when the actual restoration was being performed on that particular car.  At this point I don’t need any of the articles other than maybe the one on the headwork just to refamiliarize myself with that one again.  I do remember the articles in the magazine going into much more detail on all the particulars than what you’d normally see in a run of the mill article on a rebuild.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Ted,



Will mail you copies of that head-work chapter. Could also include chapter/photo spread on crank grinding, if you would like?



That place (Warsaw, IN) had quite a shop. I visited them back in the 80's. They routinely x-rayed castings, and they would also bake and shot-peen heads/blocks, which I thought was a bit much for stock motors that would likely see little use!

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

Ted:

My local machinist and friend, Bill Smith, started doing head work back in the '70s, and he bought a Winona brand guide and seat machine.  It sounds like the same guide inserts you are referring to, he bought them from Winona, but they could have easily been re-boxed Atlas inserts.  A little story about him.  Back in the days blueprinted heads began to show up on NHRA stockers, he was trying to break into the business then dominated by an Indianapolis shop.  I suggested that he offer to do a pair of heads for a certain Indy racer that could not quite run on the national record, and if the car would not then run under the record, he did not need to pay for the head work.  The racer agreed, the car immediately went a couple tenths under the record, and the next week Bill was inundated with sbc stocker heads from Indy.  I have often wondered aloud to Bill that I don't see how he makes any money, he's too finicky with his work for the prices he charges.  But he's been at it for 35 years.

John

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Daniel.  Haven’t seen the photo spread but that sounds like the screw in guide inserts to which I refer.  Atlas is the only brand I’m aware of for these.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Thanks Ted,



Just wondering, but in the 1988 "Resurrection of Vicky" book photo spread, the (now defunct) Classic Car Center shop is shown installing what was described as "screen door spring-like" spiral bronze guide inserts. Were they the Atlas "screw-in type" you refer to?

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

There are several different options regarding bronze valve guides ranging from a pressed in guide or guide replacement, a guide liner, and a screw in guide-insert.  Regardless of the type of bronze guide used, 0.0020”-0.0025” valve to guide clearance for the intakes and 0.0030”-0.0035” for the exhausts is preferred.  This is roughly about 0.001” more clearance than what you’ll find for iron guides in a new condition.

 

A disadvantage to the screw in guides would be their difficulty to replace after they’ve been installed but, ‘cross my fingers’, I’ve never had one go bad to date and I’ve been using these in my engines since the early Eighties.  The screw in bronze guide inserts are available from Atlas (Winona brand?).  K-Line makes a bronze guide liner with a spiral flute which have superior wear properties but these have been known to slip or become dislodged if the valve is subjected to extreme heat.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Ted,



Your comment re: the reduced heat dissipation of knurled guides is very insightful. It never occured to me that knurling would likely allow even less heat transfer than bronze inserts.



Since I am now convinced that knurling should NOT be allowed, do you have a specific brand/source of screw-in spiral inserts to recommend, or any uniquely Y-block specific clearance specs, intallation tips, etc. that I might pass on?

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA