Hi guys! Been reading here for a long time, and was actually surprised to see that, when I went to post, that I had not actually registered. Corrected.
Forgive me, but I'm actually working on a 225 OF V6 out of a Jeep. Yes, the granddaddy to all the turbo engines. But, I can't think of any other forum where I'd find more knowledgeable guys regarding the Buick V6 than here, so I hope you'll indulge me for a spell.
Bottom end is in pretty good shape, but a busted bolt on the intake and a noisy lifter meant the top end needed to come off. One lifter that was not spinning now means new cam + lifters. OK, I can do that. Since I drive the car a lot, and the top end has never been apart to my knowledge, lets pull the heads and have hardened exhaust seats installed.
Heads off, and delivered to a very highly recommended and respected machine shop here in KC. Said they had done a number of Buick V6's in the past. OK fine. Seemed like nice guys and had some serious and fairly new machines for head work...figured my heads were in the right place.
Two weeks later, I pick them up. Heads are hot tanked and very clean. New stock-type springs installed (Sealed Power), new exhaust valve seats. Valve guides were good. Viton umbrella seal for the exhaust, and a positive seal on the intake. Milled the head about .004" to clean it up. This was a '69 smog motor, but the air pump gave up decades ago and the tubes running to the heads have long since been cut, crimped, and soldered shut. But I did ask them to remove the inner tube section that runs from the machined head fitting to the back side of the exhaust valve. To my dismay, when I got ready to sit down and slap some paint on these in prep for assembly, I saw that they neglected to get those tubes out for me. So, I spent a couple of hours battling them myself and got 'em out. PITA but all is forgiven.
Yesterday, I went to pop the heads on the block after spending hours painting them, and I noticed (yes, for the first time) that the valve retainers were of varying heights. Which here also meant that the height of the valve stem was also varying. I'd throw a bunch of numbers out there, but the bottom line is that I measured (to the best of my ability) the shortest valve stem at 1.917" and the longest was at 1.951", a delta of .034".
While I'm just a shade tree mechanic, I've still done more than a few engines over the years, and on a non-adjustable valve train like the 225 I had always thought that the valve height needed to be kept to about +/-.005 (or .010" from longest to shortest).
I'm fully aware that I may have to have custom pushrods made (do NOT want to use adjustable rods unless there is no other way to get it done). But with a .034" difference between the longest and shortest, proper lifter preload is going to be impossible to achieve.I won't disclose here what I paid to have the work done, but it was a good $100 more than I thought it was gonna be, and certainly ample to have it done right. So, am I out of line (was gonna say 'off my rocker', but naaa) to drag the heads back to the shop and ask about this valve job? Got some machine shop guys here to tell me if my concerns are valid?
(Might add that finding the spec for the installed valve height has been a project in itself. The Kaiser Jeep manual says 1.925",
and 1.930" to 1.970" from the 2006 AERA Engine Builders Association book.)
Forgive me, but I'm actually working on a 225 OF V6 out of a Jeep. Yes, the granddaddy to all the turbo engines. But, I can't think of any other forum where I'd find more knowledgeable guys regarding the Buick V6 than here, so I hope you'll indulge me for a spell.
Bottom end is in pretty good shape, but a busted bolt on the intake and a noisy lifter meant the top end needed to come off. One lifter that was not spinning now means new cam + lifters. OK, I can do that. Since I drive the car a lot, and the top end has never been apart to my knowledge, lets pull the heads and have hardened exhaust seats installed.
Heads off, and delivered to a very highly recommended and respected machine shop here in KC. Said they had done a number of Buick V6's in the past. OK fine. Seemed like nice guys and had some serious and fairly new machines for head work...figured my heads were in the right place.
Two weeks later, I pick them up. Heads are hot tanked and very clean. New stock-type springs installed (Sealed Power), new exhaust valve seats. Valve guides were good. Viton umbrella seal for the exhaust, and a positive seal on the intake. Milled the head about .004" to clean it up. This was a '69 smog motor, but the air pump gave up decades ago and the tubes running to the heads have long since been cut, crimped, and soldered shut. But I did ask them to remove the inner tube section that runs from the machined head fitting to the back side of the exhaust valve. To my dismay, when I got ready to sit down and slap some paint on these in prep for assembly, I saw that they neglected to get those tubes out for me. So, I spent a couple of hours battling them myself and got 'em out. PITA but all is forgiven.
Yesterday, I went to pop the heads on the block after spending hours painting them, and I noticed (yes, for the first time) that the valve retainers were of varying heights. Which here also meant that the height of the valve stem was also varying. I'd throw a bunch of numbers out there, but the bottom line is that I measured (to the best of my ability) the shortest valve stem at 1.917" and the longest was at 1.951", a delta of .034".
While I'm just a shade tree mechanic, I've still done more than a few engines over the years, and on a non-adjustable valve train like the 225 I had always thought that the valve height needed to be kept to about +/-.005 (or .010" from longest to shortest).
I'm fully aware that I may have to have custom pushrods made (do NOT want to use adjustable rods unless there is no other way to get it done). But with a .034" difference between the longest and shortest, proper lifter preload is going to be impossible to achieve.I won't disclose here what I paid to have the work done, but it was a good $100 more than I thought it was gonna be, and certainly ample to have it done right. So, am I out of line (was gonna say 'off my rocker', but naaa) to drag the heads back to the shop and ask about this valve job? Got some machine shop guys here to tell me if my concerns are valid?
(Might add that finding the spec for the installed valve height has been a project in itself. The Kaiser Jeep manual says 1.925",
and 1.930" to 1.970" from the 2006 AERA Engine Builders Association book.)