First of all when they say you need a valve job does that just mean taking the old valves out and putting new ones in or is it me complex then that? Is there a big value in 3 angled valves? Here is what I have done: Bored to 0.080 over, Venoly pistions to bring the compression 10:1, clifford 268 mech. cam and there cam kit springs, lifters ect..., clifford's header and four barrel intake, holey 390, mopar hei with the orange box, and having it balanced. I am open for suggestions and help.

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225+0.080 at 10:1
268cam
holley 390
clifford headers
8 3/4 355's lsd
kh brakes
electronic ing

When you have a valve grind done, that doesnt necessarily mean you need new valves, the machinist can face your old ones and make them like new. A 3 angle job is the way to go, 5 angle jobs arent going to help you unless your trying to shave a tenth of a second off your quarter mile time and their more expensive. Another thing about valve grinds is that the machinist will replace your valve guides (or should) so you dont have excessive amounts of oil leaking through your valve guides. Plus they replace the valve keys (or keepers), valve stem seals and depending on what year your head is ( designed for leaded or unleaded) you may need your valve seats replaced with hard seats. Unleaded heads have hard seats, leaded heads have soft seats. I think they switched to hard seats in the early 70's. This is what i do for a living, anymore questions, just ask...

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Drive it like its stolen, and be glad im not YOUR son...

How much would it cost? I'm going to have to take the head off my truck to replace the seal. Should I replace the guides and have the valves done too?

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The Old Goat '83 D150 225-2

AKA Ice Titan

Replace which seal? If it's a valve stem seal there is no need to pull the head.

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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.

Sorry. What I meant to say is I have a head gasket leak, I think. I will have to take the head off to do this. What else do I need to do while the head is off? Money is a limited resource. So what should I do and how much will it cost?

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The Old Goat '83 D150 225-2

AKA Ice Titan

Hey old goat,

Raleigh has the finest auto machine shop I have ever been in. (Boyette's, downtown 327 W. Martin St. near city hall. 919 828 9383) Three generation family affair, have done my work for 35 years. Lou has been there too, as has James L. Their stock in trade is small track and drag racing engines. It is a racer's hangout..... but in the 60's and early 70's they had an account and did all of a taxi fleet's business of slant sixes and still like working on them. (I understand the taxis were never turned off until enough miles/years..not hours... passed to rebuild the blocks!)

In head work you get what you pay for...usually. Boyette's will port but would prefer to show you how and suggest tools because they can do poly thousands of dollars of machine work for the same time it would take them to port a simple slant. They did a COMPLETE milling and mild port head job for me for a few hundred dollars, and I provided the oversize valves. Three angles, guides, keepers, magnaflux, hot tank, etc. Doug, the son does heads, Johnny, the dad does blocks, and they work with Gene, a real old timer on a huge Bridgeport when hand made heads and so on are needed. You oughta stop by sometime if for nothing else but the timewarp of a shop in business since cars came into the south and the Boyettes began racing. Johnny will tell you tales like going with his father when his father took a crank grinder to a home to grind cranks where the babbit bearings had worn out. Seems to have been a common practice.

rock

I'd love to, but I just don't have the money. I'd also like to do as much of the work as possible, myself. All it is as this point is an oil leak. I found it when I put my manifolds back on. Lots of thick smoke out the tailpipe and a few other places, namely the #1 exhaust runner. Looking there, I noticed a black sputter and dirty oil below where the head meets the engine. I'm not a mechanic. But best I can figure, the oil is getting sucked into the exhaust and burnt. The valve cover is relatively dry. The oil that isn't sucked up is sliding down the block. I can see oil half way down the block, as far down as the #3 and #4 runners. To my knowledge there was no leak there before I took the manifolds off.

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The Old Goat '83 D150 225-2

AKA Ice Titan

Warm the engine-up, pull the valve cover and retorque the head to 70 ft-lbs. That may fix the problem with-out a head gasket change.
DD

Around here (Sacramento, CA) they're charging $90-120 for a valve job and around $40 for resurfacing.

If you do end up taking the head off to replace the head gasket, take it to the shop and have them vacuum test the head. That will tell you if your valves are sealing and if you actually need a valve grind or not. Its cheap, at my shop we charge 7.50, surface is about the same as noted earlier 35-40 bucks. Also since your not for sure going to get a valve grind you may want them to pressure test your head, this will tell you if your head is cracked anywhere throughout your coolant passages, they run about 30-35 bucks. Doing the P test and vac test will tell you how much work needs to be done if any.But keep this in mind...my 74 powerwagon had 74,000 miles on it when i took the head off and did a valve grind. The engine lasted about three more months before my bottom end went. Its a double edged sword.

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Drive it like its stolen, and be glad im not YOUR son...

The old new fresh top killed the bottom wives tale.
I hear more often that the head job is linked to getting sealer and trash ect. in the oil screen that kills the bottom.

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67Cuda,FAST EZEFI,340cu,CR=10.25,RollerCam&Rocker (XR268HR,#20-810-9)(#1622-16)(EddyRPM#60779,#7576), (MSD6AL,#6425) A904, GearVendorsOD, 8 1/4,3.55:1, ClassicAir

May be..i just know that one morning i fired her up and she was a knockin...spun rod bearing on #1

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Drive it like its stolen, and be glad im not YOUR son...