A friend and I are going to attempt to replace the valve stem seals in my 93 vert this weekend. I have the FSM and read through it about replacing the seals. I also searched the site for any tips, and only found a couple. Any input on what I should do to try and make it a bit easier would be well received and helpful in our attempt. I am guessing??? I need to get it up on stands with both front tires removed and maybe fender insert. Only one vavle taken apart at a time. Lots of air pressure to keep the valves sealed while taking them apart.

Any and all help will be great. My freind is a mechanic, but I want to cover all bases before we tear into it and find there is/or was an easier route to take......

 

Are you talking about valve stems in the rims? Not sure what you mean by "seals" but if you mean the cores in the valves, they are easily unscrewed with the little spanner tool made for the purpose. There is no need to raise the car, etc., just remove the old one and install the new one. Why do you need to do this? If any are losing air, maybe they just need to be tightened.

If you want to replace the entire stem, the tires have to be unmounted from the rims.

 

I am talking about the valve stem seals on the heads! When the car sits for awhile (more then a day or two)and I start it I get a small puff of smoke out of the exhaust.

 

Well, NOW I get it! That makes a LOT more sense!

 

i did my 85 several years ago - fairly easy job, but much easier if you have an extra pair of hands, and i'm guessing the LT1 is similar to the L98. i used a lever arm spring compressor tool, and a spark plug air adapter to pressurize the cylinders to around 125psi - it helps if you back off both rocker arms in each cylinder when trying to compress either the intake or exhaust spring. also have one of those telescoping magnet things when removing the locks - it helps, and to be on the safe side, block off the oil drain ports in the heads. i used fel-pro seals, and the job went very well - no issues. stopped my smoke puff on start-up, and the 1000 mile/quart oil consumsion...

 

if at all possible,pick up a few extra locks.they can disappear in a heartbeat when you drop them. after reassembly ,give the valve a rap or two with a deadblow mallet to make sure the locks are seated.

 

Ohhh, valve guides! I thought I was going Whew!!

 

No, valve guides are in the heads. Valve stem seals are on the valves under the springs. OP asked the right question. Really. Joe C nailed it, i did an '89 L98 a couple of years back as he described. Messy, but not too difficult. good luck

 

I was hoping for a little more info on how it is done! The guy that is helping me said he knows how to do it. I have never attempted this before and was hoping for a step by step or a link to another post that gives me some detailed infomation on HOW TO. I sure hope we can get it done on Saturday, gonna lock the frig so he cant get to the beer stash until it is all back together and runnning correctly. This has got me on edge because it will be my first attempt. Maybe I am worried for no real reason, I sure hope he knows what he is doing. I printed out Joe C's reply and will cross my fingers.

 

I've done this a couple times as well. My $.02 = Do one cyl at a time, and bring that cyl up to TDC while you're working on it. I also use the lever tool. A little grease will hold the half retainer in place while you're reaching for the other half...

Plugging the oil drain hole is a good idea. Cleaning any crap out of it is good too.

 

As a newbie to the "vintage" vette world, not sure I am qualified to comment but recommend you do some research on the forum concerning rocker arm tightness/adjustment. The GM shop manual suggests one full turn past point where lift rods stop being turned--that left the valves open on my rebuild project. Also note, you can only adjust certain valves at #1 and #6 TDCs--shop manual did help there.

 

Spend a few more minutes in both Search and Tech Tips. This fix has been well documented with pics. Springs can be very stubborn giving up their keepers. Do not be surprised if you have to apply a little force to make some release.

 

Ohhh

 

I learned the hard way that after you do all of this work if your valve guides are worn the new seals won't help much.

Warren

 

Tim here it is a link for step by step valve seals job,it is a C3 carburated small block ,but valve seals job it's the same...
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...ml?ref=esp-img

 

You're not one of those Weizenheimer guys, are you??

 

Sometimes - yes - I don't know what happend to make you post what you did - but it is funny. I'm sorry if you feel offended. In this case I just thought that your post was comical as it seemed you miss read the "title" and/or the OP's first "post" of the thread....in your defense though it did mention key words such as "both front tires removed" and "air pressure".

 

Not offended at all- have no idea how I misundertook the OP's question. I try not to make the same mistake twice, but I always find new ones to make.

 

You and me both brother. I post the occasional "gem" here myself...sometimes you just gotta laugh.

 

forget using air...save that for your tires !

use the old indian rope trick instead:

(1) pull all the sparkplugs
(2) select a cylinder; rotate engine until exhaust valve is closed and intake valve valve just closes; this will put that piston somewhere near the bottom of its stroke just as it begins to rise on the compression stroke.
(3) feed in as much 5/16 0r 3/8th inch soft dacron rope as possible ( usually about two feet or so)
(4) continue rotating the crank, the piston will compress the rope against the valves and hold them solid

proceed to remove the keepers and springs (this is the exciting part);

(5)place a 1/2 drive socket with a 1/2 extension over the valve spring retainer and smack sharpley with a hammer or mallet; usually on the first try, the keepers will dislodge and the retainer and spring will come loose;
(6) lift off the old seal, lubricate and install the new seal; it should seat firmly on the valve guide. Beware, one size fits all seals; any seal can be used on the intake valve, but on the exhaust valve stem, a more heat resistant material will be required; the dealer sells these at about $5 a pop, they are reddish (not black) in color and this is one of the few times paying extra at the dealer is worth it.

(7) I would seriously suggest acquiring new springs; they are usually inexpensive; for example, at the dealer a set of LT4 springs was less than $50, even less mail order.

(8) rent or buy an valve spring compressor for reinstalling the spring, retainer and valve keeper...I bought a generic one for about $20, it was good enough.

Remove rope
(9) rotate engine in opposite direction, pull rope from cylinder

(10) after all valves are done install new spark plugs..and (why not) new spark plug wires.

its a time consuming project, but not particularely difficult or expensive, and combined with (at least) new plugs, should be a real improvement.

A word of warning though, plug off the oil drain back holes in the heads, those darn keepers can bounce and pop right down one of those holes and then you have a problem.

Good Luck