Hello everyone, newbie here. I began working on a junkyard engine I got from a 58 Chevy truck (going in my 59). Anyway, between the valve stem and rocker arm, the intake valves have what I can only describe as a cap on them, except for one...so I need to ID this part and replace the missing one. The engine currently in my 59 looks to be out of a 53 car, and does not have these caps. Ive never seen these in any shop manual or internet picture.. So what is this thing?
They are just valve stem wear caps. Might want to check the top of the stem that was missing the wear cap. Do a google search for vavle stem wear caps should come up. good luck
Thanks for the quick reply. I kept searching (Bing, I quit using google after they chose to pay tribute to Cesar Chavez on Easter, instead of Easter) for "valve stem cap" and only getting the caps for inflatable valve stems..so I didn't know what else they could be called. Looks they are also called Lash Caps, used for racing and whatnot. I'm doing an original restoration, so I don't think I'll be needing them. The valve stems dont look gouged, mushroomed, or scored, but some look like theyve been rounded by a grinder.
That roughly ground edge means that the guy who ground the valves wasn't very good at chamfering the edge of the valve tip when he ground the valves or didn't have the proper piece on his valve grinder to do it with. It's usually just a nice smooth little chamfer/bevel maybe .020 wide that should be on there. I'd measure the valve tips against a new one to make sure how much of the tip had been ground off as that may be why the caps were on it. If you are installing all new valves there isn't a problem. You will want to inspect the valve seats pretty closely to make sure that they haven't been ground down too far and the seats need to be replaced. There is no telling how many valve jobs that engine has had over the years.
You might need the lash caps after all. If those stems are as round as they look, they may not last long. And if they have been ground down, then any hardening (if it was ever present) is gone. And the installed height would be changed as well. Might be time for new valves, if you can't get a lash cap.
Mystery solved: I think that's why the caps were on there. 5 of the intake valves have a reground chamfer of the valve end, and Cylinder #1 still looks neat. When I knocked the cap off, I must have put it back on the wrong end of the engine (meaning I moved the cap from #6 to #1). The caps being placed on the ground valves would explain why I could not find a 6th cap anywhere. Strange enough, I measured the valve heights, and they are all the same as the unground valve. Right now, Im just inspecting and repainting the engine since it ran fine when I got it home. If the motor craters, then I plan to actually rebuild and replace the head with one that has a 1959 date code to match the block and truck. Until then, the caps are staying. Thanks for the info
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