Can it be done? What special tools am i going to need if so, thanks in advance!

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Daily Driver 72 'Cuda
74 Duster /6
http:www.goodysgotacuda.com

Just get a fitting that screws into the spark plug hole and put an air compressor on it for a hundred psi. That will hold the valve shut while you slip the new seal on

You will also need a valve spring compressor tool.

Another trick is to fill the engine with rope so the valves can't drop, Either way should work, but rope is cheaper.

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1980 Aspen 225 super six

I would be VERY reluctant to deliberately put any foreign object into my cylinders. A spark plug hole air fitting is not that expensive and is a good tool to have around.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

I tried the rope trick one time with my 66 Chevy C-10. My little cousin (5 year old)saw the rope hanging out of the spark plug hole and pushed it back through. Had to pull the head off to get the rope out.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

The air pressure adaptors do work, but they are an expensive nuisance to rent, and they are a pain in the butt to work with even if you are already set up with shop air. The rope trick is an excellent one, and is completely safe; all you have to do is get a long enough rope that your "handle" sticking out of the spark plug hole is nice 'n' long. As far as cylinder contamination/damage, it is a nonissue: If you pick non-shedding (e.g. Nylon) rope, there will be no "foreign particles" left in the cylinder. If you pick a natural-fibre rope (my preference, e.g. hemp or sisal), any little rope fibres left in the cylinder will be burnt and blown out inside about 1/2 second of engine runtime.

Here are the instructions I sent 60Seneca when he needed to do this job on his '60 in the process of fixing stuck valves and bent pushrods:

It's likely the rocker assembly is so crudded up that it's not oiling properly. Find a machine shop that has what is called a "hot tank". This is a big tank (gee...) filled with a caustic solution. Parts go in dirty and come out clean. No aluminum or other light metal you ever want to see again can go into the tank—only iron, steel, copper, brass and bronze! Just remove your 225's rocker shaft, get a piece of steel wire (I've used an unbent wire coat hanger) and string all the rockers and spacers onto the wire, then twist the wire closed so you have a loop. Take that and the shaft itself (as well as perhaps your valve cover and other stuff you want really clean down to bare metal) in for hot tanking. You can direct the machine shop to remove the end plugs from the rocker shaft and then replace them with new plugs once the shaft is internally clean.

Once you get the cleaned parts back, remove each rocker arm's adjusting screw, taking note of how easy/hard it is—any that are easy to turn will need to be replaced or reworked so they're difficult—and chase the rockers' internal passages with spray carb cleaner and a suitably-sized wire.

Replace the valve stem seals at this point. If you buy a valve spring compressor and a long length of natural-fiber rope just a little smaller than the spark plug hole, you can do the seals with relative ease, as well as having much better access to the part of the valve that needs unsticking.

I'm going to assume you're going to do the whole job, and give instructions for it.

Valve spring compressor: I like to use a KD/GearWrench № 2078, handwheel type valve spring compressor. Other types work with varying degree of hassle.

Now, the valves are prevented from dropping down into the cylinders by the spring, cap and split-collet keeper assembly. If you were to use your valve spring compressor to squeeze the spring, push the compressed spring down and remove the collets, the valve would drop out of sight and you'd be looking at pulling the head. You probably don't want to do that. Here's where the rope comes in.

This is a one-cylinder-at-a-time job.

Remove all six spark plugs, and then you push enough rope into the spark plug hole you're working on so that there's a goodly wad of rope within the cylinder. Make sure you start out with a long enough length of rope that you've got a good long "handle" that doesn't go into the plug hole, so you can retrieve the rope later. Then, you turn the engine by hand (using the fan and fan belt) until the piston in your cylinder comes up and squeezes the rope wad against the valve heads, making sure that they won't drop down once the springs are released.

Now, once the two valves of the cylinder you're working on are wedged in the "up" position, you apply and operate the valve spring compressor, which will squeeze the spring to a shorter length and allow you to push it down the valve stem, exposing the split collets. Remove those and set them aside carefully, and the spring/cap assembly can then be lifted off the valve stem. You will see a black rubber umbrella-shaped seal. Lift it off the valve stem, too.

Now you see the sticking point: The valve stem to guide junction. Apply Kroil or Mopar penetrant (lots of products are called 'penetrant'; this one is significantly different) to this junction and give the top of the valve stem some careful but deliberate raps with a heavy hammer. Be sure to hit straight on. If you're working with some really tightly jammed valves, and need to "buy" yourself some more room to work the valve stem up and down in its guide in between Kroil applications and raps, you can back off the rope wad a little by rotating the engine so the piston moves back down. Just don't move it so far down that the valves would drop all the way out of sight. It's only important that they be wedged all the way closed/all the way up when you go to put the valve springs back on.

Once you've got the two valves nicely unstuck and moving freely in their guides, install the new valve stem seals—there are two kinds, the deep and the shallow, take note of which kind goes on the intake and which on the exhaust. Then, making sure the valves are wedged all the way up/closed, use the valve spring compressor to squeeze the valve with cap atop, put it over the valve stem, install the split collets and hold them in place as you unwind the handwheel on the compressor so the spring comes up and wedges the collets in place.

Then, you back off the wad of rope a little, pull it out of the spark plug hole, and move along to the next cylinder.

Whew! That took about as long to type as it takes to actually do the work described.

You'll find frequent reference to the use of an air pressure adaptor to hold the valves up, instead of rope. This involves an air hose specially threaded to fit into the spark plug hole, and of course an air compressor. You thread the hose into the plug hole, apply air pressure, and this keeps the valves closed/up while you work on them. It works, but requires special equipment and does not offer the option of making "wiggle room" for yourself by backing off the wad of rope.

So now, you've done all six cylinders' worth of valves with the above procedure. All twelve valves move freely up and down (and round and round, be sure to check for that) in their guides, all twelve seals are new, all twelve spring-cap-collet assemblies have been reinstalled, and you're sure the rope has been removed and is no longer in any cylinder.

Next step, check your oiling to the top end. Crank the engine on the starter and watch the cavity at the rear of the head, where the rearmost rocker shaft bolt screws in. After the oil warning light goes off, you should see a nice jet of oil from that location. If you don't, you'll have to dig deeper, probing the oil passage that angles into that rearmost bolt hole area with a stiff wire to the max possible depth to break up whatever chunklets are blocking oil. Keep at it until you do get a good squirt of oil out of that location when cranking the engine.

Install straight pushrods in all 12 locations.

Pick up your cleaned rocker assembly, verify the end plugs have been replaced, assemble the rockers and spacers onto it per service manual instructions (pay attention to the order of spacers and rockers), install
the rocker arm adjust screws, and then install the assembly onto the head.

Do a rough tappet clearance adjustment cold, setting the intake valves to 0.020" and the exhausts to 0.030". Then, install your spark plug tubes (new O-ring seals, please) and your nice new spark plugs (see spark plug suggestions in this post) and hit the starter. The engine should come to life. Take a look and make sure all 12 rocker arms are oiling nicely. There'll be a fair amount of valve clatter from the too-loose initial adjustment. Let the engine warm up thoroughly (20-minute fast idle) and then follow this procedure for the final adjustment.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Well, I have great respect for your knowledge and experience and if you say it's OK then I'm sure it is. On the other hand, I'll stick to the compressed air if and when I need to do that particular chore.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

It is a good idea to stuff some rags in around the push rods while removing the collets / keepers.

Don't get into a hurry and skip this step, you will regret not covering those holes while you are trying to fish one out of the oil pan.

Collets sometimes get stuck to the valve stem, so needle nose pliers are a good tool to have around. Trying to unstuck one is the best time for them to go flying.

Great explaination Dan, that should be a tech Article for sure.

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1980 Aspen 225 super six

Very good idea stuffing rags down the pushrod chamber to prevent collets getting lost in the pan!

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.