I did get this job done today. Did all the seals exhaust and intake. This has to be the highest labor to parts ratio in existence. I started just before 8 this morning and finished a 20 min test drive around 2pm.
My existing seals were umbrella style. I don’t know if these are oem or not. This truck is an 85 with a 305.
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The plastic/rubber o rings were mostly “intact” but shattered with fingernail pressure. I replaced those too.
I took pics of what I thought would be the hardest one (#7) because of the brake booster, etc. Here’s the bare stem.
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Here’s the new intake seal and o ring installed.
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Here’s an exhaust one.
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Overall I had a learning curve. The first (#1) one took me a long time because I was trying to get it right and learning. I figure I ran about 20-30 mins a cylinder after that between pulling the plug, running air pressure. Removing rockers, pulling the spring, replacing the seal, re-setting the spring and keepers (the highest variable for me…some took 30 seconds, some a LOT longer due to dropping two of them and having to search), and putting everything back. I did one seal at a time, so 2x per cylinder.
Number 6 was my most difficult. I have headers and access to that plug is already tough. Getting the air hose there was a cus fest.
I also lost some time by not adjusting my driver side valves well before buttoning up. I had some valve train clatter and pulled the valve cover and adjusted while running, but that was probably a 30 min penalty. My truck is a stock setup and has a bunch of stuff like vac tubes and wiring on the valve covers.
The truck didn’t smoke on startup or a few warm startups. So maybe it’s fixed. I was always embarrassed when this great looking truck would spew smoke once in every 7-8 warm startups.
People say this is a relatively easy job but I found it nerve wracking due to dealing with small parts like the spring locks. I thought I was sunk when I picked up my magnetic screwdriver and didn’t realize one lock half was on it. I slung it and that probably cost me 30 mins alone. But that’s how I learn. The hard way.
I also found it labor intensive. My truck’s underhood is nice but perhaps not as easy to get at as some others. A stripped down motor would be quicker.
