OK,so i screwed up. It aint the 1st time and wont be the last.Some how the long type spark plugs were put in my 425 Nailhead,i bought the engine as a fresh rebuild about 2 years ago and set up my 40 coupe with it.Ok,with the drivetrain mounted in the ch***is i decide to fire up the motor for the first time and check it out.well to make the story short i bent all the intake valves.Pulled the plugs and the intakes had hit the plugs.Now whether i put them in or they were in when i bought the engine doesnt matter,i have to take the hit on this because i remember pulling a plug and shinning a light down the hole to check the pistons and see if they looked new.Right then it should have occured to me that none of the engines back in the 60s used long type plugs.Now we all have seen valves hit pistons and pistons hip plugs, but never a valve hit a spark plug.So i take the heads to my machine shop to get repaired and didnt have a clue how hard it is to find nailhead valves.Now i know i will get responces such as Egge etc, the machine shop said they checked far and wide for valves.Are nailhead valves that scarce?If so its kinda scary.
not that scarce. My local parts place go the stock replacement ones easy. But you can get them from T/A as well. and sorry that happened, that really ****s. Dont' let them try and do hardened seats while you have the heads off.
Try Terrill Machine in DeLeon,Texas. I had good luck getting all NOS valvetrain parts for a '56 Olds V8.
Kanter has them, but I think their price is high. Did you try your local Napa? There is a whole bunch of sets on eBay.
Also, did you consider just calling somebody like Manley, Victory, etc? In many cases they'll have a valve that will work - or can easily be cut down (on the head diameter) to work. If you can't find the valves you like, you can also have them custom made -- but you'll spend $25+ or so a valve. Let us know where you find them and what you end up paying per valve.
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