[steve25]

Also it’s no wonder that you drove the bottom of the exh retainer into the top of those positive valve guide seals with the lift of that Cam even with just stock 1.5 rockers, no less the 1.65 ratio ones!

The tops of those valve stems look beat, did a shop set those heads up for you?

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by steve25

Also it’s no wonder that you drove the bottom of the exh retainer into the top of those positive valve guide seals with the lift of that Cam even with just stock 1.5 rockers, no less the 1.65 ratio ones!

The tops of those valve stems look beat, did a shop set those heads up for you?

Just to reiterate, the seals got trashed in 2012. At the time I was running a Crower 60916 with the 1.65 rockers. The shop set up the heads and assembled the engine. The guides were sloppy and uneven. IIRC, they had anywhere between 1/16 and 1/8 of a gap between the seal and the head. Ones that were higher obviously got more hammered. The valves have a little more history on them. They're Ferrea stainless valves that I bought for a 1998 rebuild and reused them with this build in 2011. I swapped to a Lunati 702 about 6 or 7 years ago and kept the 1.65 rockers.

Really appreciate all the insight and knowledge you all have provided. I feel like I've got the Pontiac A-Team on this.

You never stop learning on these things. A rough measurement of the bores with my cheapie HF caliper has them at 4.15 which would mean it's .030 over, correct? There should be some meat left to clean things up.

Regarding a Butler or Kauffmann stroker kit, any recommendations for what to shop for? It's another exercise in learning for me. I'm assuming I'll need -24cc pistons since I'll be running the iron RAII heads. I know they come balanced, but are all the rod and main bearing clearances set up as well?

On the flip side, is there any reason I wouldn't want to build a stroker if I'm getting all new bottom end parts anyway?

More pics of the dissection. Even after 9+ years, there are still tiny pieces of blue valve stem seal in the pickup...