Technical valve removal

hi, working on a flathead ford 59L and i'm tearing it down for a rebuild. i'm having a seriously difficult time getting the valves out. i'm breaking the tabs on the top, tearing the holes that are there for removal and i was wondering if there is another way to get them out. i really dont care if i destroy them to get them out as it will be a complete rebuild and at this point i'd be willing to try anything.
i've also attached 2 pics of a couple of tools that i have acquired and that look like they may be for just that job but, i can't figure out how to use them.
any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
thanks

 

When they are really stuck, two ways I've found to be successful. 1st: If you are good with the red wrench, torch them in half. 2nd: If you don't feel confident and you need to be careful since the walls of the valley are thin, use a large bolt cutter to cut the valve stem inside of the valley. You jam the head of the bolt cutter between the spring coils and cut the valve stem. Unless you have Popeye forearms, you'll need a decently long one to get the leverage to cut the stem.

Once you get them cut with either a torch or bolt cutter, the tension is released and you can work the inside parts out and then get the valves out through the top.

As Alchemy stated below, you'll need to take some pressure of the springs a bit to help the horseshoe clip slide out. There are specific tools for these clips that help as well.

Tearing down a flathead can be a battle of wits. Spray everything with your favorite nut buster and let it soak for a few days.

Either way, take your time. Frustration can get the best of you and then you start doing silly things that nick up the seats or other damage.

I've never seen the tools you posted pictures of, but the first looks like it sits in the valley and slips under the bottom spring shim to allow you to leverage the valve assembly through the top of the block. You'll need to remove the horseshoe clip first no mater what you do.

The second tool appears to sit on the deck and slip under an open valve head and leverage it out. I would place a piece of wood or steel stock under that post in order to prevent damaging the deck of the block.

Honestly, after re-reading, just find a way to cut them in 1/2 from inside the valley and be done with it.

Good luck.

 

Don't you compress the spring then remove the lock tab from the valve guide after that you release the spring and then pull the whole "valve, guide, spring, retainer and keepers" out as an assembly?

 

That is the method I use. I use the normal C clamp to compress the valve spring and remove the keepers. The c- clip that holds the guide can then be removed.

 

If things are clean & not carboned up, yes. Sometimes, and it sounds like the OP is having this issue, the carbon "glues" the guide in and they can be a real bear to get out.

I have the KD valve tool and there are times when that tool won't budge them. That's when the bolt cutters come up.

 

It for sure would need to be a clean valve guide for a easy removal.

 

I'm by no means an expert, but the tools pictured in the first post look a little odd. I'd suggest a basic KD or similar tool, 21-inches long with an offset fork. Here's a couple of mine.

 

If you have the original mushroom tipped valves with split guides, I’d suggest using the special fork tipped bar to compress the spring a bit to remove the keeper. Then maybe you can wiggle the spring past the end of the valve. Then cut the mushroom tip off and pull the valve out. After the cam and lifters are out, use a heavy bar as a punch and hammer the guides down and out from above.

 

I may be stating the obvious but I take it the problem is that the guides are stuck in the block. As the guides must be pushed down a little to get the keeper out, this is the problem. Isn't there a tool that you can drive the guide down a little? I think you crank the engine over to get the valve up and use this crooked punch to get past the valve head and drive it down just a little. Is there a tool for this or is it something that was home made? I think I remember seeing one on a video.

 

Yes there is a punch like that. They aren’t just everywhere though. And if he’s doing a complete rebuild on an engine with mushroom valves, might as well just cut stuff up cause 98.6% of the time the guide is stuck too hard to pull the guides down. If the engine has 8BA valves, it’s easy to push up the springs with the forked bar, get the keepers off so he can pull the valves and then drive out the guides with a straight punch.

 

thanks for the input ya'll.
in the end i cut them with 24" bolt cutters. i needed to add a couple of leverage bars on the cutters making them about 12" longer but i got them out.
cheers!

 

Awesome. Glad you got that out of the way. Good luck with the rebuild.

If you or anyone else is interested, here are two nice valve bars for sale on Fordbarn.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=347925

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=347924