cylinder head question

[fast94mustangGT]

I'm going to be cleaning my heads tommorow to get them ready to paint and bolt back up to the engine. I was planning on throwing them in the parts washer but was wondering if that would hurt the valve seals? If so how many seals are there and how hard are they to replace. I figure i might as well change them while i have the heads off since i'm not sure how many miles are on the engine because im pretty sure its been replaced at some point. any help will be appreciated guys.

 

[dcurtis]

There are 16 valve seals on your heads, and I say replace them any time you have your springs off There real cheap so buy alot, I have literally hundreds in my tool box. And they only take about a minute to replace.

 

[Maryland Stang]

You should completely disassemble the heads anyway before you drop it into the parts washer. It can be extremely difficult to get all of the cleaning fluid out of the ports with the valves still in the heads.

Upon removal of the valves keep everything organized and in order. The valves must go back into the heads in the exact positions that they came out of. Each valve is lapped to the seat that it sits on.

 

[347HO]

There are 16 valve seals on your heads, and I say replace them any time you have your springs off There real cheap so buy alot, I have literally hundreds in my tool box. And they only take about a minute to replace.

+1

On the flip side;
If you've tested your cylinder heads and they have NO issues, such as bad/leaky seats, leaking seals, weak springs etc... then I'd leave them alone. Clean only the outside to be painted and call it good.

IMO, it's halfassed to have your heads off and not take them down to check spring tension, have the valve seats cut, change seals, clean valves and cylinder heads, surface prep the deck.

 

[Bullitt347]

+1

On the flip side;
If you've tested your cylinder heads and they have NO issues, such as bad/leaky seats, leaking seals, weak springs etc... then I'd leave them alone. Clean only the outside to be painted and call it good.

IMO, it's halfassed to have your heads off and not take them down to check spring tension, have the valve seats cut, change seals, clean valves and cylinder heads, surface prep the deck.

+1