GETTING TO THE POINT Trying to setup Serdi seat facing cutters with valves that have undercut stems can be difficult. Use a valve guide the same size as your valve stem and clamp the setup pointer on it. That way it will bridge the undercut stem. And it will slide on...

REMOVE OIL GALLEY PLUGS Most aluminum OHC heads have some oil galley plugs. Remove these plugs when rebuilding and blasting the heads with glass bead. When you remove the plugs after glass beading you will find that the glass bead will be clumped up behind the plug in...

BROKEN TIP A Volkswagon 1.8L turbo 20-valve cylinder head can be found in most shops across the country. Due to broken timing belts, new valves are often needed. If a valve tip breaks off at the keeper groove, after re-installation, it is not the fault of the valve....

Guide to Tipping I keep about 15 different valve guides next to my valve-refacer to use when “tipping” the valve stems. By clamping the guide into the machine instead of the stem of the valve, I can easily insert the valve and use two fingers on the head of the valve...

Making Impact on Head Disassembly Here is a fast way to disassemble cylinder heads. Take a 1/2” impact driver (the type that you twist and hit with a hammer) and place an impact socket that is just a little smaller than your valve retainer onto the impact driver. Next...

Stud Installation Secret We all know head studs and main studs give better clamping force for our fasteners. Did you know that bottoming out the stud is a bad thing and the stud should never hit the bottom of the hole? Studs should never be torqued into place and...