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is there any way to increase valve retainer to seal clearance?

3K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  john6066 
#1 ·
i'm glad you guys talked me into checking the clearance between the valve retainers and oil seals. i'm aprox. .076 short.
is there an easy way to fix this. are there shorter retainers for instance? i don't really want to pull the heads. i've seen different types of seals but i don't know if their shorter or not. i'm going to replace the valves, retainers and seals but i need recommendations on increasing clearance.
thanks john
 
#2 ·
Are these Vortec heads? If so, I got around the seal to retainer clearance problem by ditching the positive seals and using umbrella seals. Of course they don't seal as well, but they keep the oil splash to a minimum.
 
#3 ·
John,
There are valve locks that will give you an additional .050" but that is not enough by the sounds of it. The correct fix is to remove the heads and machine the tops of the valve guides down.
 
#4 ·
Bill is right, as always. You're not close here, you need another .100". Might as well bite the bullet, all that jazz. But just think of all the valuable experience you're getting!!

Tom
 
#5 ·
i factored in the .060 suggested clearance. the .076 is with a thick shim of .057". is there an effective oil seal that i could use with a thin shim maybe an .015" to make up the difference? i only have to loose .034". isn't there a retainer made for this purpose?
i'l pull em if i gotta, but i'd rather be on the road. how about having the retainers machined down say .040"?
 
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