Dean,
Another suggestion for a VW machinist is Richard Sedoris in Youngstown, OH. He doesn't have a website at this time but below is a link to a feedback thread about him on thesamba.com. He has done some engine work for me and I was very happy with his service. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=321579 <http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=321579&postdays=0&postorde r=asc&start=40&sid=2b612f5ba725e27de345486ec45af4b3> &postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=40&sid=2b612f5ba725e27de345486ec45af4b3 John Medwid From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dean Johnson Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2013 1:21 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [vintagvw] Valve spring retainer keepers. gone missing? Dan, The spring on the bad valve is not compressed as much because the valve is stripped and the keeper is closer to the end of the valve allowing it to expand more than the others. I'll take another spring off and make sure they are the same height, but I suspect they are when relaxed. Bill, If the keepers didn't touch at both sides I'm sure they do now, with the valve stem being stripped. I'll take a closer look at the keepers and take some pics, right not the head is at my new friend's house. (anyone with as many VWs as he has is a friend to me) Dean On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 1:10 PM, Dan Moy <[email protected]> wrote: There is a clue in what you said, if there where swivel feet, than it is really important that the push rods are cut to the appropriate length to insure that there is no binding, in addition to installing the appropriate shims. Also what does this mean: "The spring wasn't as compressed as the others" the springs should all be the same height? Regards, Dan On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 12:58 PM, Dean Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: I also want to know why. I'll report what I can after I get the valve out. The keeper grooves are gone. I don't know how the keepers could be installed any differently. They look in good shape but I really haven't looked closely for damage. When it was still together there wasn't anything odd, they fit well with the retainer. The spring looks normal too. The spring wasn't as compressed as the others, but that was due to the retainer sitting closer to the end of the valve stem. I'll look more closely and see what I can tell you. My guess if bad material. The head came on the engine from Strictly Foreign with swivel ball adjusters, and spacers under the rocker shaft. I don't see how the geometry for that valve would be any different from the others, which were in pretty good adjustment when I discovered the bad stem. I adjusted the valves on these many times over the past 30,000 miles and didn't notice that valve needing extra adjustment (perhaps it did but not enough for me to notice.) I can do basic valve lapping (at least to the level needed for lawn mowers) but don't feel up to grinding and lapping multiple angles etc. So, how do I find a good VW machinist who can do the job and get my head back together? I suppose it can be anywhere as I'll have to ship it anyway. Thanks, Dean I really wish I had a spare engine, a nice reliable 1600 in the stock configuration. On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 12:36 PM, Dan Moy <[email protected]> wrote: Dean, Do you mean stripped of the keeper grooves? I would want to know why this happened: (1) was the valve material bad (2) Is the spring different than others (3) where the keepers improperly installed (4) as is what does the valve train geometry look like If you are going to replace the valve with a new one you will need match it to the valve seat otherwise it will leak. On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 12:21 PM, Dean Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: I took my head to a local VW guy (not a machinist), he checked out the head. The valve guides are good and all the other valves are good too. The bad valve was stripped of its grooves for some reason. I'm just going to replace the one valve. While I hate to ask for advice and not take it, the local guy feels confident this will work. He and the VW mechanic turned high school science teacher have both had bad experiences with machine shops and VW heads. But wait! Does the valve need grinding, or at least lapping. Dean Now, I need to decide how far to go with this. 1. buy an intake valve and keepers and replace just the bad one. 2. Buy a set for all valves in both heads and rebuild them myself. 3. Send heads to a machine shop for rebuild. 4. buy one or two heads. -- Visit the VintagVW archives at http://mail-archive.com/[email protected] --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VintagVW - Air Cooled Volkswagen Discussion List" group. 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