Hey guys, I have some worn valve guides on my 215cc TFS heads. I was thinking of taking them in to get new guides pressed in. I was wondering what else should be done to the heads at the same time. Should I replace all the valves or just those that are no longer straight, and would this require new valve seats? I was thinking of ordering the parts from TFS myself. So far my list lists new guides, valves, and seats. I will be using the same springs since they are only a year old and the pressures check out. Am I missing something or are all those parts necessary? I dont need porting or milling and Im trying to keep costs down. Thanks.

 

yep that should do it

 

Question - did you have any outward signs that the guides were worn? Or did you just pull the valve covers to inspect?

Also, what rocker arms are you using?

 

Some smoke at startup only after car sits awhile. Replaced valve seals and still smokes a bit. Nothing crazy but it bugs me. I have yella terras but before I had Harland sharps and I did break one. Smoking started shortly after. The HS rockers are a bit nose heavy for 7000rpms.

 

how many miles are on the heads? what color is the smoke?
I'm not sure but there should be a way to measure the guide to valve clearance, I would start there before shelling out $$$ without being positive it will fix the problem.

I have a Camaro that smoked upon startup (white) and it turned out to be a leaky injector.

 

It's a white bluish smoke. Also if the car is parked inclined with the nose up it won't smoke. Also I found at least 2 plugs with a bit of oil. The heads have around 30,000mi I would say. I installed them In 2008. Motor has maybe 15,000mi. Rings are good. Idk but it point to a vlv guide. Still the injector is a good idea to look up. You think my pressure gauge on the fuel system will show a leaky injector?

 

I've never heard of guides wearing out in 30k miles. (Then again I think I learn something new everyday).

But a fuel injection pressure gauge will work to test leakdown. I hooked up my gauge to the rail and cranked the car. The pressure was good while running. As soon as I killed the car, the gauge would slowly lose pressure over the next 15 minutes or so. After replacing all the injectors, it would hold pressure after killing the car.

 

Did you replace valve stem seals when you had the motor apart?

 

Changed all the seals 3 weks ago. It seems t only 1 or 2 cylinders with the problems since I only found 2 spark plugs with signs of some oil on them. I know its premature wear but Im sure they were subjected to some valve float with the original springs which werent that great.

 

I did the whole top end of my engine several years ago due to lifter failures. The machine shop that put in the new brass guides and so on, put in the new stem seals wrong, using the wrong tool and messed them up. I had to have them replaced again. At the time with the messed up seals, smoke at startup and smoke pulling off from a stop. Replaced the second time, no problems since.

 

If I have the heads off the car, I would definitely at least shave the heads if nothing else, but I would still port them anyways. New springs would be good but that might not be necessary if you have less than 80k, after that I would make the investment, valves really don't need to be replaced as long as they have FULL surface area remaining and can be cleaned up to look like new (remove ALL carbon deposits) and seat smoothly.
I would replace the valve seals with the Ford umbrella type as they are rubber and last a long time and IMHO better than the majority. The collets/keepers really don't need to be replaced if they are in good condition. If the cam has in excess of 125k, I would remove it and check the lobes to make sure they are not grinding down. As long as your lift and duration are still good then it can carry on but nothing sux worse than opening up an engine and not replacing something marginal and then having to go back and do the same thing twice.
I'm a bit preventive when the possibility of a LONG re-rebuild is evident. I also use gorilla snot (3m weatherseal) as a sealant which will probably get me thrashed here on the boards,but I will swear by it, at least for my purposes. Never had an oil leak after using it!!!
Just my .02 worth.

 

The cam is as old as the rebuild, less than 2yrs old. I hope all the valves are straight and they can just be cleaned up. I'm already at 12.3:1 compression so I don't want to shave the heads any more. Keeping the existing valves would be great, that'll save me $250 for 16valves.