cylinder head disassembly

[bill]

Let's say I wanna replace the valve seals on my 74 CS...do I have to remove the camshaft and rockers to get to the old seals? I'm trying to see if it can be done without using an "iron maiden" (the tool that holds down all the rockers) which I don't have access to. thanks for any help/advice on this.

Bill 4310008

 

[JhwShark]

Bill, I believe you need to remove the cam shaft...check out the following:

http://www.cscoupe.org/tech/autobooks/chapter1/autobooks_manual_019.htm​

Jon

 

[Honolulu]

hmmm

I think it can be done cylinder by cylinder if the cylinder is at TDC, trans in top gear and emergency brake on, cylinder pumped with compressed air to keep the valve closed. TDC gives max clearance on the cam.

The downside might be that if your air supply fails, the valve drops into the cylinder, and you may be in for a bit of work to retrieve it. Maybe a magnet would retrieve the valve in the guide but if not then it's off with his/her head.

I haven't done this myself, but a friend had an '84 M6 on which the stock USA single valve springs were replaced with the euro double springs.

I am considering to do this with my coupe and to that end got a cheapo mcycle compression tester from ebay. I figure to use the spark plug adaptor and hose on that tool, plus my compressor, and some luck, some elbow grease, etc...

 

[bill]

Thanks Honolulu...I forgot to mention the head is off the engine (coolant leak, bad head gasket) so I wouldn't need compressed air. I think it might be possible to move the rockers over on the shafts, then compress each spring, remove the keepers, remove the spring and then renew the valve seal. I will try this as soon as I figure out how to compress the springs...

 

[DougE]

Valve Seals

On the rocker shaft there is a collar covering a spring clip beside each rocker arm. Once you’ve removed the clip you can push the rocker to the side and use a valve spring compressor. You need to determine if the valve guides have been replaced with the new style guide.

The old style guide used an umbrella type seal made from nitrile, The new type guide uses a different type seal that’s made from viton, The new seals deals with heat much better and tend to last considerably longer.

Doug