Yes the seats are hardened, yes they are in great shape... the valve wasn't taffy'd or 'burnt' like I've seen the old heads with lean conditions... the contact patch on the valve head itself showed signs of not seating perfectly any more... (as well as the other's that had lower numbers... I had to use a magnifying glass... they show up as little black streaks, and the back cut on the back of the valve head wasn't as smooth as it was when I checked the head during assembly)... another interesting 'clue' is the locks on the 'bad' valve stems had been hammered and ridges has developed on those valves to.. (it took quite a few minutes with a file and emery cloth to get them to slide out of the bronze guides)...

So this time since I have to start up from 'scratch' a bit... I'll be relieving the combustion chamber for the O/S valves, redressing the seats, new locks, and a bit more bowl blending....

My buddy dropped by his 'good' valve spring compressor (the big 'c' clamp)... took about 3 minutes to pop all the keepers and retainers off (I even did a second head for 'fun (future build)...he looked at them and concurred that all the 'fun' experimenting I'd done to dial things in, that the 'weak' spots finally had had enough of it and tanked (with a few more on the way)...


Time to buy some seat facing stones, and get things done.

-D.Idiot