After removing the heads, and disassembling them we found the valve stems to be pretty worn and the exhaust valve seats to be pitted. After a good cleaning, I took them to Reeds machine shop and had new hardened exhaust valve seats installed. Also had the exhaust valve guides knurled. We replaced all the valves and had a complete valve grind done. It took about .008" of a skim cut on the main face to get it flat and clean. A new set of lifters was only $40 bucks so we gave up on re-useing the old ones. Reeds also talked me into replacing the oil pump. Cheap insurance. The heads are preserved and painted, in my shop loft waiting for installation day.
There is a lot of stuff in my loft! The manifolds, the heads, the valve covers, the oil pan, the starter, the generator, the water pump, the fuel pump and the heater fan have all been cleaned, checked out and painted.
We dropped the drive shaft last weekend and changed the oil in the rear end. We were very happy to find clean oil at the right level when we pulled the plugs. The shaft and yoke came up to the spa where the U-joints have been pressed out, and everything cleaned and painted. Once I press in new U-joints they too will live in the loft for a while.
I removed the wiring harness from under the hood. Once I separated out all the crap that had been cobbled in over the years, the harness doesn't look too bad. I've got the voltage regulator, the horns, the horn relay, and the start/run resister out as well. These too will get the spa treatment, as will the battery box, the winshild wiper motor, and a host of other small parts, brackets, and gizmos.
