Thread: Need some help...

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I have this little problem that arose lately. I happened to snap an intake valve retainer into two pieces just today and had the valve stay sorta open, I'm pretty sure the piston made some slight....maybe large....contact with the valve in the brief moment after this. Lost all vacuum which was what led me to believe it was possibly bent pushrod...not too likely on hardened chrome moly rods but I went for the check and saw good ol' piston one's intake had lost its dandy little retainer. So I fished the lock and retainer out of the head and pulled off the rocker and spring to see if the valve would move freely. It doesn't move that well....Soooo, I start thinking bent valve...I know its pretty possible but maybe I'm just looking for someone to tell me that I won't have to tear the ol' heads, intake blah blah off and bash out that valve and check the guide, possibly install a new one with a new valve, which doesn't really cost much...just causes stupid amounts of down time for the work to get done in a shop if the guide needs to be bored and replaced. So, I guess I'm asking this....what are the chances that the valve is bent and I have to tear it down and put in a new valve, AND...what are the chances that the guide is hooped and I have to get it fixed up. Or is that stupid valve just stupidly tight in the first place....I already know the answer to that last question.

I think you aready answered your own questions. If the valve is bent it's a pay me now or pay me BIG later kind of thing. I wouldn't want to take the chance of it disassembling itself again going down the road. Ouch.

SOOO far anything that has happened to this engine was something I didn't do myself. I can't really blame the machine shop who assembled the heads on the retainer snapping but I just find it odd how all the stuff and assembly work I did is still holding up very well, still tight and hardly worn and twice now work they have done has resulted in some sort of failure. Might be time to check out some other shops.... Well, I figured that the valve was toasted but what about that guide...I guess I won't know fully until I pull er' off but still I will ask...

Bad time of the year for down time. Too bad it didn't wait til' this fall after the season is over? OR maybe not at all would have been even bettter.
The bright side is it didn't let go at 6,000 RPM???

Quite honestly that was where she let go, then she tossed all her belts and I coasted home and towed her into the garage. But yes, its basically the worst time to have a problem, all the machine shops will be gettin busy if not swamped at this time. I guess it's a hell of a lot better than blowing a rod through the block..quite honestly a bent valve won't break the bank and is relatively easy. When I heard the rough idle, the zero amps, no power steering and dead brakes, and it wanted to die without throttle I thought it was quite a bit worse. Shut her down and coasted in. Last time was a lot worse. Valve seat came out and blew away 4 of my pistons and scored the cylinder walls, not to mention the damage to the head....

Hope you changed machine shops after that one.

~ Vegas ~

Originally posted by 1stGenCamaro
Quite honestly that was where she let go,

Wow. That could have been a mess. Glad to here you still have an engine to rebuild.

Hehe Streets, thats almost how I disassemble the whole valve setup. Beat on the tops with a socket or round unit and the retainer and locks just pop off....sometimes all the way across the garage. Hmm, motor had about 1500k on it though, and I would have thought theyyss was seated well, but that damn ol' hardened steel retainer...couple of them....snapped into two pieces. If there is some significant damage to the unit I'm gonna toss in a forged stroker crank, salvage my rods, get some lower compression pistons, keep the heads, but do some more port work and BETTER RETAINERS!! and put some forced induction on the beast. Oh, and not to mention the new valves...

Originally posted by 1stGenCamaro
put some forced induction on the beast.

I vote for the respiratior idea.

I figured you would like that idea Pro. And ya, most of the time the locks stay inside but with a beefy spring the socket sometimes bounces and one lock may come out and the other will stay in. It happens occasionally that they take off on the rebound but I usually try to keep em in that thar ol' socket. I am seriously contemplating the huffer if the pistons are sorta hooped. I was originally gonna go forced on either the Buick 455 (SPENDY!) or my Rat (For Fitty For) but if I'm in the piston buying crowd again I might as well boost tiny.