I replaced the Valve stem seals today, what a pain in the freakin' asss. I borrowed a valve spring compressor from marcsrollin, I hated that P.O.S. because you had to put a golf ball under the head, clamp the head to a table, and then stand on the damn thing hoping the clamps were going to hold - for each valve seal. Not me brother. So then I went down to the local Smagen's Auto parts and bought the $30 valve spring compressor and you still needed to clamp the stupid head to a table with a ball under it because the valve locks stick to the valve. Not me brother. So then I broke out the buzz box welder, a grinder with a cut off wheel, and made my own valve spring compressor like I originally was going to do.
That worked to an extent, I didn't have to clamp the head to a table, I didn't have to stand on anything, but it didn't compress the valve spring enough to remove the locks. What it did do, and really well, is break the bond between the locks and the valves - easily.
Close enough for me brother.
Then I dropped the heads onto the block and figured out that 4 head studs are too long. 4 of them either need to be die'ed further or use a spacer on them. I also figured out it's a pain in the asss to put the head on over the studs, so I ended up removing all the studs in order to put the heads on the block. Then I dropped the intake on top, the carb, the scoop, grabbed a beer, and walked away for the night.
