I stripped the Vortecs tonight. The Intake valves all have a bit of carbon built up on them. (about the only place on these used heads with any buildup..) I tried soaking one in a gallon can of carb cleaner tonight and then hitting with a wire wheel. Not only did it not come off real well, but I dont like the way the wire wheel marked up the finish.

I plan on reusing all the valves, so I have to keep them in order. Im hoping there is a more successful soaking method......2 valves every few days is gonna take toooooo long!!!

 

bench wire wheel is the way i was taught. stiff to get it off and soft to shine.

 

I've always used a wire wheel, never soaked them in anything. Always worked fine for me.

 

^ Me three! Never had any problem getting carbon off the valves with the wire wheel. Is your wire wheel/bench grinder a good heavy duty, hard to stop type? That makes a big difference on how hard you can lean on it.

 

Looks like Im gonna go buy some wire wheels, because this carb cleaner isnt touching this stuff. Any worries about marring or scratching the finish on the valves???

 

u will find they shine up pretty good. we had a soft and hard wheel on the one in the shop. used the soft one to finish and it worked pretty good. could buff em. lol.

 

Only clean the head with the course wire wheel, stay away from the face, margin, and stem. Use the soft wire wheel to lightly polish the face, margin, and stem. Make sure to get any carbon deposits off the face of the valve, this will provide better results when you lap them back into the heads.

 

All the buildup is on the 'inside" of the valve, from the 'stem' to the outer step that contacts the valve seat. Im telling ya, its caked on there. Looks like one of those "run your valves clean" gas commercials, only mine is the 'before' example.

Is lapping a fairly straightforward job? Any measurements or just spin the valve with compound for a while? (never refinished heads, excuse my ignorance)

 

That's simple then. Reinstall the valves, and run for 5,000 miles with Shell brand gasoline

Seriously though, go ahead and hit that part with the wire wheel. You just want to be very careful with the valve face (where the valve contacts the seat.) It's hard to really damage them though as the valves are hardened steel.

Go to the parts store and buy a tube of valve grinding compound, and a lapping tool. The compound is about $5 bucks and the tool is about the same. Just a wooden stick with two suction cups on either end. Apply a small amount of grinding compound all the way around the valve and drop it into the corresponding seat. Attach the lapping tool and rotate it back and forth for a minute or two, then pull the valve out and wipe the compound off the seat and the valve. If it's done, the seat and the valve will have a consistent, shiny ring around them. If it's blotchy or inconsistent, repeat until it is.

If you'd like, you can take it a step further and measure the valve margin to see if it is within spec. Your heads were taken from a low mileage engine however, so I'm sure they are.

 

Cool. Ive got the lapping thing down, but cleaning these valves is gonna be a &itch. Im going to try an aggressive wire wheel tomo but Im still afraid of mucking up the surface of the valve. Im telling you, this carbon feels like its made of concrete. I was actually knocking small chunks of it of the valves with a brass drift. (yes, I deliberately chose brass as its so much softer and shouldnt be able to ding up the valve...)