Thread: Valve seals, guides, head gaskets or rings?

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You could do valve seals first.

Saves replacing head gaskets.

A good method for keeping valves in place while you change the seals:

Get the cylinder on compression stroke, then back it up some.

Feed cotton rope down the spark plug hole.

Turn the crank, squish the rope into the valves.

Now you can release the keepers, remove the spring and replace the seal.

After it's back together, back off the crank, and pull the rope out.

Then, do next cylinder in firing order.

Awesome! Grandma said the same thing when I said I'll probably have to change them! just out of curiosity. What would happen if the valve dropped? Could it be retrieved with a magnet? I was able to pull a pushrod up with a retracting magnet after I missed the hole and dropped it into the depts of the engine.. Never messed with the valve train but a pretty decent mechanic ..so this will definitely be a good learning experience,