Engine: Valve Seals

[JoeHall]

Today's (dreaded) job, is to replace the valve guide seals in the 56J motor. I just swapped a set of rebuilt heads in about 5000 miles ago and, foolishly, re-used the old seals from the old heads; reason was, the seals the re-builder used were borderline too thick, and the spring retainer bottoms may have kissed the seals at higher RPM. I'd complain to the re-builder, but the heads were re-done about 10 years ago, and he has since deceased.

I probably coulda got away with reusing the old seals, except with the Oldsmobile oil pump, the 352 gets a LOT more oil to the top end. The smart thing woulda been to locate the proper seals in the first place. Just goes to show, short cuts usually end up biting later; live and learn. Since oil mileage is down to about 1000 miles per quart, I'm just gonna get my butt out in the garage and do what I know needs to be done.

[PackardV8]

Joe, do you have new umbrellas in hand? Since I've been using positive seals, I've just been throwing those which come with the gasket set into a box. If you haven't bought them, I'd send you a set.

jack vines

[JoeHall]

Joe, do you have new umbrellas in hand? Since I've been using positive seals, I've just been throwing those which come with the gasket set into a box. If you haven't bought them, I'd send you a set.

jack vines

Thanks for the offer Jack,
But I now have these, which I prefer. They are same as was on the old heads for 120,000 miles, just did not do too well when swapped over.
I decided to save some of the fun for a future day, and only did the driver's side today. The #7 plug was starting to show some signs of oil again, after only around 500 miles on the current set of plugs. Hope the seals do the trick, as I did not have a problem till swapped the heads.

The Olds pump makes for about 7 drops every 5 seconds at the rear two rockers on that bank. With the OEM pump, it was probably around 7 drops every 30 seconds. Love the extra circulation, but it does call for more attention to things like valve guide seals and spring baffle position.