I'm having a shop do a valve job for me. Is there anything else I should have done at the same time? 107K miles.

 

While the heads are off I would measure the cylinder bores for wear or un-even ware. That should give you an idea of the state of the engine.

 

Check valve spring tensions, port & polish your heads or at least clean them, check lifters for wear.

 

One suggestion:

If you have standard issue hydraulic lifters (not solids, not rollers etc)... and you know they have 107000 miles on them... either replace them or take them out & apart 1 at a time & clean them. They will have a lot of sludge/sediment inside.

Each used lifter develops a wear pattern with the cam. If you mix them up, you will have problems. They have already lost too much material to re-mate to a different lobe, and an existing lifter wear pattern is extremely abrasive to a foreign lobe.

New lifters will mate to the old cam.... usually.

To clean...
Push down on the piston with a pushrod until the clip free's up... remove the clip with a dental pick or a pair of small needle nose pliers. Be careful... they tend to pop out and get lost forever.
Wack the open end of the lifter on a rag on a piece of wood until the guts fly out.
The guts can be sticky... you may have to work them in & out a lot to get them all out.
Take note of the order of the parts.

Soak the parts in lacquer thinner, use q-tips, compressed air and elbow grease to clean the parts. The cap can be removed from the end to expose the ball/valve. They can be cleaned & re-installed on the lifter. Be careful not to damage the cap... pry it off like a surgeon. If you damage it, it won't stay on when you re-assemble the lifter.


Lightly oil the parts & re-assemble in reverse order. Do not fill the lifter with oil or you will not be able to compress it enough to install the clip.

When the engine is re-assembled, an "oil primer" is needed to fill everything back up with oil.... even new lifters need this step.

If you're not touching the engine yourself... then nevermind what I just wrote.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I wish and the expertise to handle this myself but I don't, so it is in the shop. I guess I'll make sure they check the cylanders for wear, do a proper valve job, clean up the intake real good in and out, paint the heads with the correct blue, and I'll paint the finned valve covers. Does anyone know the proper blue color for the 80 L82 engine? Also, are the valve covers gloss or satin black for the finned covers?


[Modified by Dk Met Grn 80 L82, 10:59 PM 11/25/2003]