As I said in my previous reply, the extra is between the valve surface and the retaining ring, so it is not above the ring, but it does add to the total height in both places.

"When I talked to the local machine shop he told me the difference is from the valve end to the keeper groove, so it adds to the overall length also, not just the length from valve surfce to keeper."

 

Ohhhhhh, when you said the valve "end", I pictured you reefering to the tip. Never mind then.

 

I got the heads shipped down to TN and the "battle of the heads" begins on 12/31 apparantly. Anyone who's interested in some great info regarding differences, pros, cons etc. between the overseas heads and American ones i.e. cheap vs. expensive take a look at headbytes.com. There's going to be a lot of info shared and it's definitely been an insightful experience already. Can't wait to see these things done! Tony's work is impressive and extremely reasonable. More to follow.

So, did anyone get anything good for their projects for Christmas? Aside from the ratcheting wrenches, a creeper and another floor jack I didn't get anything good. As a matter of fact (sorry for complaining in advance) the only other things I got were another MRI and CT scan as I wiped out on the ice trying to get into my truck and managed to hurt myself even more! Looks like everything's still intact "back" there but I'm sure not doing any grinding for a while...

 

Jeez! Be careful. We got missed by the dump. GR got over 4" I got less than dust.

Christmas, I got a set of 2 ton jack stands, a Skil Saw ( asked for a SawZall, not complaining) A gift card that I turned into a new ratchet today. Lots of odds and ends. When asked I always said give me Visa gift cards, I'm wanting a set of DSE mini tubs and I wanted to put them with some cash to get a set. Oh yeah my garden hose water pipe started leaking inside my basement right as we were getting ready for Christmas dinner. I was in the basement soldering broken joint while everyone had Ham. Bummed!

 

Man, we got pounded last Thurs/Fri by rain first, then sleet/freezing rain and then nicely frosted by about 12-14" of snow. Lost power Thurs night and got it back Sunday morning. Not a good way to kick off the holliday weekend. We made it though, barely, but we made it. I tell you what, wearing my work boots in snow is not a good idea. The only time I slip around is when I'm wearing those things. I sure paid the price but I'm thankful that I'm not typing this from a hospital recovery room. Bummer about the leaky pipes, hopefully all the other who's saved you some roast beast. That's what I was starting to worry about with no power and the winds and cold temps, was the pipes. Got lucky there.

Sounds like you got a couple of good scores for Christmas. A VISA gift card would sure be a helpful gift indeed, much more so than the 3 Walmart gift cards that I got. Don't want to complain about free money but Walmart's suspension collection leaves a little to be desired...

 

I sure hope you're feeling better after your fall! I'm up in the great white north at the in-laws enjoying all that crazy weather and skiing. You sure do have to be careful. I've seen a lot of folks on their butts over the last few days!

My wife got me the professorial grade HF 1/2 inch impact wrench. I haven't had the chance to try it yet but I sure need it. My old one fell off the pegboard and the trigger broke off. I got a few low cost stocking stuffer tools that I'll probably never use but her heart was in the right place. When I got up here I picked up a new set of ARP head studs, other new ARP stuff and some mostly new fuel system parts from craigslist. Saved me a bunch of cash.

I'll be back up a couple of times in the next 2 weeks and I'll bring the sway bar if you still want it.

 

Glad you made it up to do some skiing, the base should be pretty good by now eh? My kids went to Nubs with their Grandma this morning and still aren't back. Makes me wish I could still ski with them but at least they still get to go a lot.

Good score on the new impact, funny you mentioned the HF 1/2" impact, I just ordered that very same one last night! Figured it would be helpful for the coil spring compressor and changing out summer/winter tires on the truck and Cadi. Just hope it works good, couldn't beat the price!

Yes, please do bring along the swaybar if you think of it when you're up here again. Can't tell you how much I'd appreciate that. Did you find that stuff on the Northern MI craigslist? That's a pretty good find if you did, only stuff I ever see is mud tires and crappy used tires up here it seems. Enjoy the rest of your visit up here and be safe in your travels back!

 

Hey we finally got our 1/2" last night. I cant believe this. Two years in a row I've have no snow on Christmas. Its starting to worry me about this climate change stuff. we had a drought over the summer and two winters without snow, Lake Michigan is way low. When I was a teen there was a break wall that we could park next to and the water would slash over the hood when big waves rolled in. The water is close to 50 ft from the wall now.

Walmart cards can be fun too. There website has way more stuff than the stores do.

 

I actually found the head studs on the metro Detroit craigslist but the guy is just south of East Jordan. I got half original price on everything. That's half of what he paid a couple of years ago and it's almost all new stuff, most in the original packaging. He has more stuff such as fp regulators, electric fans and more. He said he had it on craigslist but I never found it so it may be on the nmi craigslist. Funny you mention the mud tires....he's changing over from drag cars to a Blazer mudder.

The skiing was good but they need a good dumping of natural snow. It was getting icy and pretty beat up. It was still fun though.

I'll be back downstate tomorrow but I'll be back up next week after New Year and I'll bring at least one sway bar with me, maybe 2. I'll also be up the following week. You'll have to let me know how to get a hold of you.

I gave my wife a coupon for the impact driver so I got it at a good price too. Now I just need a better compressor! I keep my eye out on craigslist but I'll probably end up buying new. I saw that the HF vertical 80 gal got a good review in one of the hot rod magazines but I've been looking at the Lowes 80 gal and I can get 10% off there.

 

Sounds like a pretty good deal on the studs, now that you mention East Jordan, I do remember a guy in E. Jordan trying to get rid of some of those. Had them listed all summer but they looked like they were either really old or used, guess I was wrong. Way to go! Love finding good deals on CL but it's been awhile for me.

Anytime at your convenience if you are able to bring a swaybar up with you I'll PM you my contact info. Just let me know anytime and I'll be glad to meet up with you somewhere. I sure do appreciate it sir!

Damon, I know what you mean about the water levels. Surpised you guys didn't get more snow than that last year. It was a light one for us too, actually, we did get some snow but it would melt a bit so it never really got that deep. The water levels up here seemed to come up quite a bit last year. Traverse City is the same way as what you're saying too. There's 200 extra yards of beach at the resorts now. I'll take a few heavy rains this spring over a bunch of snow however! You're right about Walmart's website too, way more stuff than in the stores. I saw an engine stand for $49! Couldn't believe it. Didn't see any poly bushings or TH350 rebuild kits though, dang it.

Anybody have an extra/spare rag joint that's in halfway decent shape? One that might be for sale at post holiday sale prices?? I got a bright, shiny Walmart gift card I could trade for one? LOL No, seriously, I'd welcome the opportunity to take one off of someone's hands if anyone has one available, sale or not.