Fitting new valves and guides

Singles, twins and fours.
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paul.jameson
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Re: Fitting new valves and guides

Post by paul.jameson »

Clean out the guides as best you can using a small bottle brush or similar with petrol or thinners. Clean the valve stems with petrol or thinners using an old toothbrush or similar. Lubricate and assemble. Run the bike, very gently.

The worst that can happen is that the valve seizes in the guide, in which case you will need to take the head off and sort it out.

If you are reasonably lucky, all you will get is accelerated wear on the valve stem and guide. So, after a few thousand miles, you either replace them again or you sell the bike on to let someone else replace them. Meanwhile you have had some fun.
Paul Jameson
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Now Archivist (but not Machine Registrar), Gauges and Clocks Spares Organiser.
Julian Murphy
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Re: Fitting new valves and guides

Post by Julian Murphy »

Whereabouts are you located?

Maybe somebody on here lives nearby and could recommend a shop.

I'm using a shop in Ipswich. They offer a collection and delivery service. £35
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pappleton
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Re: Fitting new valves and guides

Post by pappleton »

You certianly seem to live in a remote location. I can think of several advantages - Low risk of covid, hopefully no idiot car drivers and no noisey neighbours for a start!
Paul Appleton '53 VH plunger, '53 VHA rigid - in many boxes, '58 H.D. pan/shovel rigid
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Re: Fitting new valves and guides

Post by john.whiting »

A couple of adjustable reamers from China certainly wont break the bank.....All my singles have the same size guides and valves ,3/8",in the interest of uniformity.....Ariel is one of the few british singles that dont have 3/8 valves all round ......thats easily fixed,then you only need one adjustable reamer...........however ,IMHO ,everyone should have a set ,not that expensive ,and very useful for all sorts of jobs.
cmattina
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Re: Fitting new valves and guides

Post by cmattina »

john.whiting wrote:A couple of adjustable reamers from China certainly wont break the bank.....All my singles have the same size guides and valves ,3/8",in the interest of uniformity.....Ariel is one of the few british singles that dont have 3/8 valves all round ......thats easily fixed,then you only need one adjustable reamer...........however ,IMHO ,everyone should have a set ,not that expensive ,and very useful for all sorts of jobs.
I was thinking of buying a cheap adjustable reamer. Would they do trick for my valve guides? I am concerned that reaming them properly is something of a learned skill that takes a couple mistakes to get good at. the cheap ones are indeed cheap, and the reviews say as much. Decent ones will run be several hundred $ as far as i can tell.

I'm mostly concerned about the correct angle as well as ensuring a perfect finish without striations or whatnot.
Last edited by cmattina on Mon Oct 26, 2020 12:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Charlie Mattina
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Re: Fitting new valves and guides

Post by cmattina »

pappleton wrote:You certianly seem to live in a remote location. I can think of several advantages - Low risk of covid, hopefully no idiot car drivers and no noisey neighbours for a start!
Very remote, I would wager one of the most remote members on the forum. Town is here because of a nearby gold mine. Then again, there are lots of remote places in Africa and South America.

Either way, i can mail it, it ads about 100CAD and 2 weeks to any job like that - not the end of the world.

But yeah, no one here is worried about covid and the roads are pretty open (lots of ATV and UTVS on the roads - snowmobiles in the winter)
Charlie Mattina
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Re: Fitting new valves and guides

Post by cmattina »

Julian Murphy wrote:Whereabouts are you located?

Maybe somebody on here lives nearby and could recommend a shop.

I'm using a shop in Ipswich. They offer a collection and delivery service. £35
there are a couple shops i can mail the head to. Won't be the end of the world if i go that route.
Charlie Mattina
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Ontario, Canada
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Re: Fitting new valves and guides

Post by Mike Nash »

Mr Mattina, may I encourage you to take heart?
Grinding the valve stems in the guides isn't the way to do it but the stems and guides are tough and if you clean them out well you'll get away with it. When you bike was old and out of fashion in the late 1960s/1970s I expect much worse was done to it to keep it going. (I know 'cos I was there!) So ride and enjoy!
If you want to get an adjustable reamer I can recommend "Tracy Tools" whom I used many times over the decades (see here https://www.tracytools.com/straight-taper-reamers at around £10 each). Also this where Youtube is your friend for if you punch in "reaming valve guides" and hand reaming" you'll find a lot to see and learn. I say do these things where you can yourself; it's what I've done over the decades and it's taught me a great deal. And singles like yours are tough; you're not in Sqariel country!
Regards from MikeN.
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Re: Fitting new valves and guides

Post by KevinSandford »

In an ideal world it would be done with a reamer and then the valve seats recut with the guides in situ. However, while your method wouldn't be ideal it's likely perfectly satisfactory unless you intend riding the Americas Highway or somesuch mammoth journey?
As you've lapped it "to a fit" rather than "to a size" then I'd like to see a slight wobble as it would indicate at least a small clearance when cold. The proof of the pudding is in this case in the riding, and as long as the valves don't partially seize when the engine gets hot and you're not puffing too much smoke on the over-run, it'll work just fine.
Even if they do, you'll just take the head off and redo them, lesson learned. Take heart from the fact that the old girl will have had much worse done to her over the decades..
john.whiting
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Re: Fitting new valves and guides

Post by john.whiting »

I dont see how its possible to lap a stem and guide to get a satisfactory exhaust clearance....I
suspect the end result would be a bell mouthed guide ,with too little clearance in the centre portion......Anyway,not to worry,both valve and guide are consumables and easily replaceable.
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