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GordonC · 02-14-2018, 01:52 PM

Bored&Stroked here is what I have. My valves are 4.890" to about 4.905". Not sure if they were ground on the end or not as some of what the builder did I cannot be sure of. These are 2 groove valves with the groove closest to the end of the valve supposedly for the lock and the other for the seal. The above not withstanding I again measured my installed height, and thank you by the way as your question made me recheck all my measurements. Earlier I had confused myself by adding a ford valve installed height (2.125") into what I was doing and that just made things worse as my thinking then became I had to somehow match that measurement using the chevy valve and springs. So this morning I installed a chevy valve with a normal retainer (not rotator) and lock in the second groove of the chevy valve with the horseshoe clip. I got an installed height of 1.950". So with that as my working height I measured a spring at that height and got about 50 lbs. I added a .060" lower spring retainer (Gary's machined ones) to the spring and checked it again and got 58 lbs. So I have assembled my valves using that info and process. I know there are folks who come out on either side of using the second groove and not using it but to be honest the lock seems to fit better in that groove than the other one. Plus some of the folks who say it is ok are guys that have done a serious amount of flatheads. So good enough for them is good enough for me.

I still have 2 issues. First is I still need 1 more normal type retainer if anybody has 1? Happy to pay for it plus shipping. Second is I need to install the seals on the intake guides. Does anybody have any tips on making this easier?

02-14-2018, 01:52 PM	#241
GordonC Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 201	Re: Rebuilt Flathead Problems. Bored&Stroked here is what I have. My valves are 4.890" to about 4.905". Not sure if they were ground on the end or not as some of what the builder did I cannot be sure of. These are 2 groove valves with the groove closest to the end of the valve supposedly for the lock and the other for the seal. The above not withstanding I again measured my installed height, and thank you by the way as your question made me recheck all my measurements. Earlier I had confused myself by adding a ford valve installed height (2.125") into what I was doing and that just made things worse as my thinking then became I had to somehow match that measurement using the chevy valve and springs. So this morning I installed a chevy valve with a normal retainer (not rotator) and lock in the second groove of the chevy valve with the horseshoe clip. I got an installed height of 1.950". So with that as my working height I measured a spring at that height and got about 50 lbs. I added a .060" lower spring retainer (Gary's machined ones) to the spring and checked it again and got 58 lbs. So I have assembled my valves using that info and process. I know there are folks who come out on either side of using the second groove and not using it but to be honest the lock seems to fit better in that groove than the other one. Plus some of the folks who say it is ok are guys that have done a serious amount of flatheads. So good enough for them is good enough for me. I still have 2 issues. First is I still need 1 more normal type retainer if anybody has 1? Happy to pay for it plus shipping. Second is I need to install the seals on the intake guides. Does anybody have any tips on making this easier?