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Dennis, Derek & all,

at the beginning of last week I provided Dennis with the usual warning about the Cleveland motor's propensity to drop it's valves. This triggered a lot of interest from others, so I dug around & found some pics.

Below is a pic of an errant valve head separated from it's stem, and the damage it caused to the cylinder and head.

THIS COULD BE YOUR MOTOR

Shocked

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Just a word to the engine newbies that are here.

The two piece valves (stem and head) are what Ford used as stock. And yup, they break at the joint where they were 'connected'. When you redo your engine's heads, make sure you upgrade to Manley or whoever single piece valves, usually Stainless Steel. Under no condition, even just a street motor, should you use OEM two-piece valves.

Larry
My #1 cylinder looked a lot like this when I dropped a valve at our local road coarse several years ago. Valve was embedded vertically in the top of #1 piston when I tore it down. In my case we were able to sleeve the cylinder that was cracked & has been running great ever since - "knock on wood", even after going to closed-chamber 2V heads & kicking the compression up to about 10.5-1 from 8.5-1. Best to rely on your trusted machinist who has rebuilt a lot of 351c's for this decision.

Bob
Let me know if it works Dennis so I can try that one out on my wife....

quote:
Originally posted by 4NFORD:
Thanks for the information and pictures! Now I can show the wife what could happen if I don't replace my heads! Maybe the bigger bill of replacing my entire motor will convince her that the heads are just a drop in the bucket!
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