posted earlier about the blue smoke outta the exhaust. are valve seals a diy project and what special tools, if any are required. what size do i have to order for my stock 454 ls5... thanx in advance

 

Do a search for valve seal. There's a lot of info on this topic.

 

Looks like the search is busted, again. I was gonna link you to a few threads that really helped me out.

 

yeah i tried the seach b4 i posted... thinking about doing a whole valve job, ie; seals, springs, guides... whatever i can change without having to pull the head...

 

I'd try just the seals first. They're really easy to change once you get a game plan.

 

To do guides, you have to pull the heads. Seals, and springs can be done with the head on the car.

Here is my method. No compressor required and I can do 16 seals in 3 hours.

1. You need a small magnet, hammer, wheel grease, spring compressor (I use the cheap bar type), rope, a balancer that is marked every 90 degrees plus wrenches, etc.
2. Remove spark plugs.
3. Rotate balancer (I use the bolt) till you get to the 0 degree TDC mark.
4. Ensure that you are on #1 TDC on firing stroke by pulling the distributor cap. Rotor pointing close to #1? Good. If it is pointing to #6. If not rotate crank 360 degrees and recheck.
5. I feed a little rope into the cylinder through the spark plug hole but it is not required since the piston is at TDC.
6. We are now ready to replace the springs/seals on #1.
7. Remove rocker arms and pushrods. I then do each spring in turn.
8. Tap spring retainer with hammer to help "break" friction.
9. Compress spring and remove the keepers using the magnet.
10. You can now replace the seals and springs.
11. Compress spring and retainer assembly and reinstall the keepers. A little grease on the inside of the keepers will help them stick to the valve stem when doing this.
12. Reinstall pushrods and rockers.
13. Since the piston is at TDC on the firing stroke, both valves are closed and the cam lifters will be on the base circle of the cam. This means that you can relash the valves at this time for that cylinder.
14. Remove rope and rotate crank 90 degrees.
15. Repeat for next cylinder IN FIRING ORDER.

The beauty of this method is that with the piston at TDC, the valve cannot drop down more than 1/2" and will not fall into the cylinder bore.

 

i see that you use the rope too. if you are afraid of dropping the valve and dont want to use the rope, they sell a fitting that you can hook your air compressor to the spark plug hole and the air will keep the valves up...

 

The old rope method! It's ultimate low-tech, but it works every time.

I might suggest a common-sense step of laying a small shop rag (or something similar) over the head's oil drain holes so the mechanic doesn't accidentally drop a keeper half down one of the holes.

 

Well, I don't have a compressor. I just use the rope to cushion between the valve and the piston if it moves a little. No big deal.

 

Forgot to mention plugging the drainback holes. I don't like rags because I don't want to get lint in the engine. I use those heavy duty blue paper towels.