Well,,,,a few strokes with a round file in each hole would fix it fast

This ^^^

Just saw this, Joe.
Sounds like it was a decent showing. Going rounds is always fun, even if it doesn't result in a class win. At Muncie this year, I was very fortunate to make it to the quarter finals, where I red lit by .005. UGH! Still had a blast though, and that's what it's all about with our cars.

Congrats on some good results, and for not having any issues or problems. I consider a weekend of racing, with no problems, a win.

Quote from: djburton on August 05, 2025, 07:23:53 AM

The valves are already ground and I plan on doing a slight lap . . . . .

      Now I'm not there, I don't have the parts in my hand, looking at them, but generally I would be of the impression that 'if' the valve faces were worn to the point of necessitating a "refacing" process, then the corresponding seating surfaces in the head are really going to need more resultant effect than that which "lapping" would be able to provide.   

      Scott.

Not everything has to be perfect. This sort of thing was commonplace years ago, and under the right circumstances, there's nothing wrong with it.

The 390 in my '65 Galaxie was untouched and had never been apart. When I was getting it ready for Drag Week 2018, I took it down to the shortblock to clean out all the sludge that had accumulated over the 53 years. Having taken the heads apart, several of the valves were pitted fairly badly...not uncommon. I simply ordered 3 new valves, lapped them in, and seeing there was a consistent mark around the seat and valve, put it back together....and drove it 1000 miles to Atlanta, then 1000 miles back. No issues, no excessive blow-by, and the engine still runs good today.

Could it be better? Yes. Is there anything wrong with the way it runs now? No. I saw no reason to spend $1k in totally redoing the heads for an otherwise original and stock engine. Sometimes "good enough" is good enough.

This valve was used...



This exhaust valve was replaced...

If you won't pull the freeze plugs, that's going to make it much more difficult, but understand why you don't want to go that route. If you can hang the engine from the bellhousing side, face down, with the water pump off, then a pressure washer, or even using the pressure part of a hose wand would do a bunch to flush out all the loose crap. Aim it through the pump holes and just spray at every angle you can towards the sides of the bores. Using a coat hanger like Rory suggested would really help also. Otherwise, it'll be a losing battle trying to get all the crud out of those small water drain holes.

I wouldn't want to use any type of acid if not tearing the engine down. I doubt it would be friendly to head gaskets, intake gaskets, any aluminum etc.

2 Things I hate about spools...you cannot push a car with a spool. Once you turn the steering wheel even just a little, the car just stops and it takes 3 guys to get it to move. Secondly, in a parking lot the rear tires will screech loudly when you pull into and out of a parking space.

All of this said, my Jeep and my Comet both have 9" rears with Ebay NASCAR Detroit Lockers. They are cranky to drive and very loud around corners. Both get driven pretty long distances. They are embarrassing pulling into gas stations and such and I have had a few folks ask me what's wrong with my vehicle.

My track diff with 4.88 gears has a spool.

Tommy, just curious, what axle spline count do you run with your spools on the street? I don't have experience with spools, but always wondered how a 31 spline would handle the twisting with big tires. It's just a guess, but I think I would want 35 or bigger with that scenario. I wouldn't even attempt a 28 spline, even an aftermarket. I've wondered if my Strange 31 splines could hold up under a spool on the street.

Also, I've run several Detroit lockers, and none of them behaved like you've described. I've certainly heard the horror stories like you relate, just never experienced it. Are they old lockers? They have changed over the years.

.

The difference with my heads, which is why I built them, is the price.  The billet heads are $10K just for the heads.  Cost for my heads, intake adapter, and rocker arm system is a little over $6K.  For under $10K you can put together the complete top end of the motor less carbs, including a single 4 or dual 4 intake, competition valve job, valves, springs, etc., and its good for 900 HP with no significant porting.  Pretty sure Brent will get 1000+ with a major porting effort.  The whole idea behind my head package is to get that kind of performance at about half the price of doing it any other way.

My statement wasn't a jab, or meant to take anything away from your designs, just pointing out that they are in the "other" category as far as conventional FE heads are concerned.

Just a guess, but my guess on HP/CI would be Ray Paquet’s Super Stock T-Bolt, since he’s limited by the rules to a little over 427 Cubic Inches.

No argument there. With the rules and CI limitation, I don't think anyone could beat Ray's numbers.