59 exhaust seats

[Ironrod]

Gentelman brought a 59 engine to me, just wanting to get it running for grandchildren on family farm. Engine is out of a 1947 COE. The two exhaust seats on center port came loose on the left side. They hammered the block. Can they be repaired? Maybe the photos are good enough to tell.

[blucar]

I don't claim to be an expert on valve seat replacement, I do know that is can be done if the person doing the work has the skill and right tools.
Reviewing the pix would suggest to me that someone in the past tried to do a "relief" job on the valve port. It could have been done at the factory, some of the 59 blocks reputedly had factory ported blocks.
Many people think that the valve seats in the early V8 engines need to be replaced with "hardened seats" to handle the modern unleaded fuels.. In reality all Ford blocks from '36 to about '51-52 had hardened seats.. This was do to the poor quality of fuels at the time.
Ford did not go to unhardened seats until the '52-53 and later engines.
Many years ago I had a valve seat come out in a 8CM engine, quite a mess, bent the valve resulting in the seat breaking and being pounded into the top of the piston. The engine was rebuilt and is still alive today in a '32 roadster with Arden heads on it...

[Bruce Lancaster]

Also...sometimes they come loose because block cracked through the seat area. Scrutinize carefully. If things look OK call up Joblot...Ford used to supply slightly oversize seats for just this sort of thing, and Joblot had some...maybe they still do. I think your hammer marks can just be polished a bit to get rid of sharp edges.

[Ironrod]

Thanks for the replies. Number 7 ex was harder to to remove, I had to seperate the valve from the guide. # 7 seems to have more damage. If the block and seat area is repairable and no cracks, anyone have a ball park dollar figure.

Thanks
Bob

[Karl Wolf]

I think it was - K.O.Lee used to make valve seats... Somewhere in L.A... They may still. I have had them made to my size specs for the engine in my avatar. I sized them a bit bigger than the available ones as I thought that there was not enough interference...

Point is that it's repairable. You could do it a couple of ways, put in a larger seat, then cut that seat for a stock size seat. I would start by measuring what you have... It may be that you could use one of the above mentioned oversize seats.

Hardened seats can be cut in a lathe, they machine nicely. Don't try to cut out every sign of damage to the block... After the seat goes in it should be recessed just a dab, maybe .030- block material at the top of the seat can be peened to hold it in more.

This operation will take a fairly unusual machine and operator...

I've got the machine, but I'm in SF, Ca.

And, no time to do it... Happy to consult, though... Contact me.

Karl

[41panelmark]

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I had one like this in a 59-ab. Went to a local shop bought 2 seats, one just slightly larger than the other. Bought a new valve from a local Ford Vendor. I used the old seat to tap in the larger of the two new seats in. Installed the valve and used a lapping tool that attaches to the end of the valve to seat it in. Put the whole thing back together. Engine runs fine now with good compression too. Did all of this about a year ago and have been using the old truck for hauling jobs since then. Based on some of your photos you may be a bit too thin on some.

[Ironrod]

I also am very cocerned about being thin on #7. From about 2 o'clock to 4o'clock is very thin.
Thanks Karl for the advise, I will look for someone in my area that is a capable of machining the seat. Based on your experiance, any estimate on cost? Cost may be the determing factor for this gentleman.

Thanks
Bob

[41panelmark]

Cost me about $20 to have a local flat head machinist cut the seats, valve was not the much either.