Guys - I'm rebuilding an old AMC 195.6 OHV inline six, hoping these Fel-Pro valve seals will be okay. What came in my NOS gasket kit (from the late 50s or early 60s) are the thin rubber umbrella type. This one pictured comes from a set of 12 I bought off ebarf. The stem diameter is the same as mine and I'd appreciate the input from smarter engine guys... are these okay for my old daily driver? Thanks!
Nothing wrong with the original umbrella type seal. The one shown will provide a tighter seal. You said the stem diameter is the same. How about the ID that goes over the valve guide? Many of that type of seal require the valve guide to be cut with a special cutter before installation to keep it tight on the OD of the guide.
I prefer these Teflon seals with the metal base...but this being the HAMB, it should stir up a controversy worth a couple pages.
The regular rubber umbrella seals should work fine for an application like this, especially if it means you don't have to cut the O.D. of the guides to make them fit. Besides, you want at least a little bit of oil to find it's way to the valve stems.
IMHO, I prefer umbrella seals on the exhaust. The exhaust valves run hotter and a little extra lube helps cool them and just goes out the tailpipe. When I use positive seals, I only use them on the intake side. Your mileage may vary.
I use the metal to metal on the guide type. Bought the tool from Comp Cams. Use on all 16 and couldn’t be happier. Took about 30 minutes a head for a V8 during assembly with each measured for retainer clearance. Ford umbrella type let too much oil by and added to the valve build up.
Are you referring to the tool to cut the guides for the positive seals? If so, I assume it has a pilot that goes on the guide itself. Question I have did you do it on a mill or drill press?
I can't speak for Jimmy six, but I just ordered what fit my guides and valve stems, standard Comp Cam item...ABC
A classic cutter has a nice long pilot, which makes it hard to do it wrong, even with a hand drill. The key is to prop up the head, so that the guide is vertical, and let the effect of gravity on the drill motor feed the tool. Force can introduce side-load. That said, valve seals are flexible, and can tolerate some slight misalignment. Just don't go nuts.
I've used those in several engines on both intake and exhaust and have been happy with them. Includes a 4 cyl, straight six and a couple of V8s. All good, I recommend them. The black one below was OEM on a 32v V8 and after 180k miles they were allowing enough oil to get by the valve stems that after idling for one light cycle it was a smoke show just taking off across the intersection. You can see it got hogged out after all those miles and heat cycles. New red one on the left solved the problem and it now runs so clean it passed Kommiefornia smog tests.
I used a 1/2” electric hand drill. I was carful not to remove anymore than necessary from the top of the guide. The engine had a stock lift cam and original rockers. gimpy showed the tool. I like metal to the guide metal and not the plastic style.
I wonder what Tom ended up using? I just did a minor overhaul on a 196 Rambler engine, I put in the umbrella seals from the (new) gasket set, and it's fine. It had some rubber with teflon seals on the guides, but they were breaking up, either from age or? I think someone had installed them to try to make up for the rings not sealing any longer?
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