Do We EVER Grind Valve Seats These Days?

Good to know that more than likely I have 13mm guides in my CHYNA heads.

I was a quick shot but it looked like and old Sioux. Saw your grinder was air our was old electric. It was really old in the 60’s and was still worked into late 90’s when our store burned.

With the true automotive machine shop becoming a "lost art", it's encouraging to see a vid like this. I'm age 60, ex-racer & still build myself street/strip engines. So i know that any engine builder is at the mercy of their machine shop, to have the best finished product. Today (here in Alabama) i cringe whenever i first try a different machine shop. Competent ones are becoming nonexistent.

Nice work !

grinding will you give the best seat'''

Isn’t it likely that the rocket pedestal heights are not consistent from one head to the other? That would account for the valve guide wear on one head and not the other? Your thoughts?

Very professional, on par with any classroom presentation or training video I have seen in the last 48 years.

Enjoying the content!

Excellent videos. I like the Allis Chalmers! Anyway, I was wondering about the valve seats you place towards the top or outer edge of the valve. How does this compare with centering them on their angle? I was taught that the valves were more likely to cup if they were too far out. Thank you for your time.

great video thk for posting it

I enjoy your clips and info videos very much. Leslie

Hi Jim , my name is Leslie. How are you guys doing? I have a question about how to measure exhaust seat height. Not having any luck finding an answer/or explanation of measuring seat height in combustion chambers chamber's. Any info would be greatly appreciated. O enjoy your clips. Keep up the good work
Thanks Leslie

Making the video does not take a “substantial “ amount of time. You’re already doing the work. You just want to make an extra buck. Which is fine but don’t pretend like you’re doing all this for the viewer. Now I’m done watching your videos. C yA

I have use the stone system for over twenty years and used to get seat specs fro trick flow when we were experimenting with the R ford heads. It takes more time this way but when you do it a lot you get efficient at it.

So you guys see all the performance heads in the game. Which ones do you think look the best when you get them in your hands? Brands I'm curious about, Brodix, AFR, Edelbrock, Trick Flow, BluePrints, Dart.

07/14/2023 Hello Jim's Good Job. I enjoy watching your work and explanations. I love watching machine work. Thanks, Don

I can appreciate this video. It's been more than 2 decades since I've used let alone seen valve grinding stones.
Back when I used to build engines that's all we had. Serti cutting just started as I got out of engine building.

Great video 👍

I really enjoy watching your videos

Dead sexy!! Love watching the chips fly from milling!!!

I am watching your videos one after another and love each one!!!

Excellent details, and I enjoy the father and son aspect.

Great workmanship is fun to watch

Watching you grind those seats takes me back 45 years!

Kudos on being meticulous!

Is it always necessary to put in all new valves , springs , etc on a head. I had to pull my cylinder head to replace the head gasket , it’s highly carbon up ( from a VW FSI engine) . I hope it can be cleaned , milled and maybe lap the valves. Is lapping valves the same as grinding new seats?

I have done heads since the late 70s and have only used Sioux stone kits and valve facers. Always used a 30 and 60 to center and size contact area. I know it's old school but never had a head failure.

Excellent work!

Could you have bought changed valves over for plus .002 thou stems..???

do you have the new shop set up if so when did you move in ???

I wish my dad owned a machine shop. Count your blessings.

Had great results with knerreling questionable guide tol. Benefits of just enough oil retention. You ever knerrel and swadge?

Why would a thinner seat be ok in a performance application? Wouldn't that result in reduced heat transfer out of the valve, which is the opposite of what you'd want in a performance application?

good work

old school is the best school! nice work!

Very professional work young man master machinist

i used to like cutting seats a bit thinner than what that valve profile indicated but i haven't worked in a machine shop since the 80s.

I grind all seats, new or old. On a a name head with seats cut with a serdi you still see some chatter in the seat when the stone just touches off. Vacuum check is always better after the stone. I do use a wet bench for Stone grinding.

Nice! Hopefully we can get a follow up on this video!

Last time I did this type of head work, was 1992. Truly a "lost art"... Awesome video... Thanks 🙏

As a hobby machinist I do my own valve job and port work. I use a black and decker seat grinder and it has yet to do me wrong. We run a vintage dirt track modified and are limited to factory cast iron heads, some of the machine shops in my area have quoted me 1200 to 1800 in labor just to replace guides and do a 3 angle valve job. Whether or not if I supplied parts(guides,valves,etc). And after the last time I paid someone else to replace my valve guides I got the shaft they charged me for the big bronze replacement guides $18 a piece and they installed the this liners.

Wow! Beautiful work.

Yep I used my valve machine this morning and grinded sears also after I installed new bronz guides

Fuking awesome

I love seeing this. Many years ago I worked in a Detroit diesel shop. I was the guy that rebuilt the Detroit heads among other components. We used a stone setup to grind seats. I remember doing a set of heads for a 12v-71T. 4 valves per cylinder, 48 valves. It was very satisfying to see that beast come to life again.

Recently found your channel and enjoy the videos. The information is great for both experienced people and inexperienced. I really enjoyed the tractor series and since it hasn't come back, I guess it's safe to assume that it is now working properly and not eating itself alive.

On another note, I am curious about ring end gap and how you decide what is acceptable if you don't have manufacturer specs. Is there a standard rule of thumb? I know that was a question you had with the tractor and am curious how you would determine an issue if you didn't have the specs.

thanks and I'm waiting for more videos. you need to give the cleaning guy a raise I think.

What model split bore gauge is that id like to buy one , trying to buy a cylinder hone right now but I only do LS engines and the aluminum blocks tend to have a lot of taper and my machinist can’t fix it on a 616 like you have … so unfortunately I have to get a computerized hone and the cheapest is a Ck-21 which is still 25k no tooling

Grinding stones! Did plenty of valve work with stones back in tech school and while working in a machine shop in high school. Nice to see that there is a place for the old school methods still.

What about a video showing the correlation between valves and guides?