THE MYTH OF THE NEW BARE CASTING There may be some misconception in the automotive machine world with regards to new cylinder head castings. Over the years new car manufacturers have been very kind to our industry. It seems that every couple of years a new problem...

RESIZING VALVE SEALS Every once in a while we get metal clad stem seals that just don’t fit snugly enough on the guide to suit us. Because of the volume of metal clad seals we use and my unwillingness to throw them away or send them back, we have a drawer full of new...

GOT A HANDLE I like to use my Serdi pilots as go-no-go gauges when I hone valve guides. I made this aluminum handle from a piece of 1-1/2” diameter rod. I turned the outside for a comfortable grip and bored the center to hold my pilots. I select the appropriate one...

Don’t Fall Off Your Rocker Pins Several types of Honda heads have a rocker panel with a set of three rockers together. These rockers have pins that can easily fall out and be lost once the rocker panel is removed from the cylinder head. Before removing the panel, use...

Get The Parts! Customers seem to like to send you cylinder heads without sending the rockers, lifters, cams, cam caps, etc. Always have them bring all these parts so you can check them out along with the head, especially when it is a shim-adjust head with solid lifter...

Dead Lifters and Cylinders We had an interesting issue with Cadillac Northstar heads. We did a normal blast, dye check, valve job, stem height adjustment, and surface as requested. We also did our normal vacuum test before sending the heads back. We were then...