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Good evening. My ‘79 L82 has been puffing on startup for years. I don’t drive it enough to notice any oil consumption. Typically I just change the oil every year to be safe, regardless of miles.
id like to eliminate the cold start smoke, and planning to do valve stem seals. She doesn’t smoke at all once warmed up and if driven earlier the same day. Seems to be a cold start thing only.
So I’ve read all about the process, have the tools, and ready to order new seals. I’ve seen a variety of opinions on which ones to buy. My question is: how do I know what size to get for this original L82 engine? Are the intake and exhaust seals different?
First of all, I don't have a part number for the better seals. What I mean by better, is to steer away from the junk "O" ring style or the cheap rubber umbrella style often found on the factory heads. Its time to upgrade.
Looking at Summit, in the search box enter Viton Valve Stem Seals. Of course, you will need to enter year-make-model for correct stem diameter.
And no, the INT & EXH stems are not different dia.
Look for something in blue, that is usually a Viton quality. If you look closely, you will note a stainless ring around the upper seal. That keeps the seal from disintegrating years from now and assures that not too much oil slips by.
However, MAKE SURE NO MACHINING IS REQURED! You don't want or need to go down that road for street use. So read all the info on the product.
As a side note. Depending on age / mileage, you may want to purchase new split-locks too.
Using a soft nylon rope in the sparkplug hole with piston at TDC is much easier than using compressed air to hold the valves up.
Lay towels or sheets around the engine bay. Those split locks tend to go flying sometimes when the spring is compressed.
Never install a stem seal dry.
Last edited by HeadsU.P.; Jan 2, 2024 at 05:08 PM.
The GM O-ring seal will work fine but will dry out and fail after a number of years. They are all the same size, cheap, and easy to change. The old failed intake valve seals are the ones allowing oil to run down the worn guides and make smoke at start-up. You can just replace them and drive on down the road, or do some sort of other upgrade. I don't use the stock seals in my cars because of the way I drive them but if you just cruise around with the stock motor, the OEM seals might be worth consideration. Your call.
Timely thread for me as I'm in exactly the same situation and about to do my seals as well. I was planning to just use both the stock o-ring and also add the umbrella seals as well since I have it all apart. I had ordered the Fel-Pro SS 5112 o-ring kit and the Fel-Pro SS 10058 umbrella seal kit for this job. Should I rethink and order the Viton seals? This is just a fair weather cruise machine for me so high performance is not important but if these factory type Fel-Pro seals are only going to last a couple of years, I'd rather just put something with a bit longer life in the car.
just for fun maybe change PCV as well..and choke pull off..
my 79 L82 only puffs some smoke on warm start ups after sitting.. never dead cold. or hot. weird..
figure a quart or 2 between 4-5000 mile changes lubes up everything!
Timely thread for me as I'm in exactly the same situation and about to do my seals as well. I was planning to just use both the stock o-ring and also add the umbrella seals as well since I have it all apart. I had ordered the Fel-Pro SS 5112 o-ring kit and the Fel-Pro SS 10058 umbrella seal kit for this job. Should I rethink and order the Viton seals? This is just a fair weather cruise machine for me so high performance is not important but if these factory type Fel-Pro seals are only going to last a couple of years, I'd rather just put something with a bit longer life in the car.
Thanks!
Elliott
Here is one way to look at it. I think the "O" ring style are around a hundred of them for a buck? The rubber umbrella style are 50 of them for a buck?
The Viton style are what? $25 a set of 16?
Which do you think are better quality?
I don't enjoy swapping out those stem seals while the cyl head is on the car. I would rather be done with it for decades.
As far as installing, the only difference between cheap rubber and the Vitons sets is, the Vitons come with a couple plastic sleeves.
That sleeve is placed over the valve-stem tip. THEN, the seal is slid over the (oily) sleeve, remove the plastic sleeve and you are ready for the split-locks. Easy.
The sleeve is merely protection so someone doesn't ruin the new seal. One sleeve should do all 16 and have a spare too.
That would be the ones. More money than OEM but worth every penny. Hopefully the set comes with the installation sleeve.
Go slow, keep the valve stem lubed.
I remember when I changed the spark plugs on this car, my big hands got all scratched and cut up. I’m not looking forward to that again, so will probably go ahead and put new plugs and plug wires while I’m at it.
Valve stem seals
