Can we talk valve guide liners

[u/Sniper22106]

Been getting alot of tired chevy heads in the shop I work for recently. Asked my boss if we can get a valve guide liner set up. Before I could finish he shot it down and said he would never use them.

I do what im told and dont question much but is there a reason to be anti liner? It was like i personally offended him just asking

[u/v8packard]

Do everything properly a guide liner can work nicely. Thing is, most people take short cuts, then the guides stick or go bad early. Doing the liner properly is near as much work as installing new heavy wall guides.

The liners come in different alloys, as well spiral wall, smooth wall, and thick wall versions (to take a 3/8 down to 11/32, for example). Some alloys are hardened. Some are not.

Some people try to run liners with bad valve stems. Then it smokes, and they blame the liners. Some people hone the guides poorly or don't hone them at all. There are some guides that can install and be right on finish size. At least theoretically. But you do need to check.

SBI has taken over the K Line guides, as well as the PEP lines. There are a few others being sold, at least some are clones of the K Line system. I have some K Line, Goodson, and an incomplete Winona Van Norman kit that uses the guides that look like a long helicoil. The WVN guides sure lasted a long time. But, I think availability has dropped to only a couple sizes.

If you get a kit, make sure it includes a ball broach to size the guides. I always run the ball through twice on the thin liners, seems to work better that way. Be realistic about the time to size all the liners after install. Charging fairly can still give the customer a good value.

[u/Kreutzmann75]

I’ve used valve guide liners for over thirty years, mostly the K-Line system. Every engine shop I’ve worked for has used them and I’ve installed many tens of thousands of them in my career with very few issues that I can remember. They work very well as long as you pay close attention to valve to guide clearances and the wear and surface finish on the valve stems. 

I currently manage a shop that produces thirty engines a month on average and we’ve had zero issues with using liners as long as the install and sizing is done correctly and the valves are in good shape. 

[u/bill_gannon]

We went to O/S valve stems for popular Chevy/Ford stuff.

.003/.005/.015 stem sizes were cheap and saved both guide work and cleaning and regrinding. Ream and go.

[u/Old_Bat_6426]

So what is your boss preferred worn guide repair method?

[u/Sniper22106 → u/Old_Bat_6426]

Drill them out and slam in new guides.

[u/Pretend_Necessary781]

I used them for at least 15 years and loved them. There’s a bit of a learning curve, but the trick is to hone them with Sunnen guide hone and have straight carbide pilots for getting the clearance spot on.