• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Valve Seals and Valve Guides

  • Thread starter Thread starter triffecpa
  • Start date Start date
T

triffecpa

Guest
What's the trick for removing the metal sheathed valve seals on a '80 GS1000 head? I tried squeezing them off center with a pair of pliers to break the rubber seal's grip on the guide. Managed to get five of them off so far, but the bad news is that I also managed to break two of the valve guides off flush with the bottom of the follower cavity. Not sure if that was my "ham-fistedness" or if there was a problem with them. On the last three I was going to try cutting the metal sheath on the seal with a dremel tool and see if the rest of the seal doesn't come off more easily. The follow up question of course is "how hard is it to replace the broken valve guides?" Do I need to buy oversized guides or can I buy stock replacement ones? Thanks guys. Tracy
 
As far as the seals go, you usually can't remove them without destroying them. The good news is they are cheap as long as you don't go to the dealer.
You should be able to use stock replacement guides for about $7-10 each but the bad news is they have to be pressed out & new ones pressed in on a press, a 5 ton will do if I remember right. Have a proper machine shop do the job. You are dealing with an aluminum head & bronze guides. The labour shouldn't be that much.

Paul
 
triffecpa said:
What's the trick for removing the metal sheathed valve seals on a '80 GS1000 head? I tried squeezing them off center with a pair of pliers to break the rubber seal's grip on the guide. Managed to get five of them off so far, but the bad news is that I also managed to break two of the valve guides off flush with the bottom of the follower cavity. Not sure if that was my "ham-fistedness" or if there was a problem with them. On the last three I was going to try cutting the metal sheath on the seal with a dremel tool and see if the rest of the seal doesn't come off more easily. The follow up question of course is "how hard is it to replace the broken valve guides?" Do I need to buy oversized guides or can I buy stock replacement ones? Thanks guys. Tracy
Click to expand...

The trick with valve stem seal removal, is to get them turning on the guide before you try to pull them off.

First spray the old seals with a good penetrating lubricant. Then use a good pair of pliers to grip them, and get them turning. This spreads the lubricant and breaks the seal to guide bond.

Snap on tools makes a special plier for stem seal removal, but the key is still to break the bond by first twisting the seals.

Footy.
 
Thanks guys. - I'll try the spray lubricant on the last three seals. Yeah, it'd be too damned easy if I could replace the guides myself. When does this racing thing start to get cheaper anyway? :-)
 
Replacing valve guides is not a totally impossible at home procedure if you have the right reamers and the ability to use them on center. The 'hole' left after driving or pressing out the broken guide must be reamed on center to spec, then the new guide has to be hopefully shrunk to size with cold while the head is heated, or else pressed in with a support inside the guide. Then the guide has to be reamed to fit the valve stem. Usually one would then have the valve ground to fit the new center. Hope this helps. Generally it is unnecessary lateral force that breaks valve guides, although overheating the head can cause them to drop into the cylinder.

This is not good, obviously.

Good luck.
S.
 
I would highly recommend having a motorcycle race shop like APE replace the broken guides and any others that are not up to snuff. This will require the valve seats being redone also. This is not a job for the home mechanic as I have done this myself years ago and was not pleased with the results. You can save money by assembling the head and shimming the valves yourself.....Billy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top