Stuck valve now what?

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Corey

Extremely good point about the sodium valves, same should be said of heating them with a torch. Problem of extracting stuck valves is pretty much a Flat Head and some L Head engines, where the valves are in the block instead of the head. Not sure if there are many of these that used sodium filled valves, but and it is a big but I think they were used in some hot rod applications.

Most if not all valve in head stuck valves can be handled by removing the head and using a bearing press to push out the valves.

Thanks for the reminder though because the next two restoration projects going into the shop have sodium valves. One of these did eat a sodium cooled exhaust at one point in its life with no major problems.

Cheers Phil

[Corey Myronuk]

Yep i agree phil it is a mostly flathead issue.the canadian M37 chrysler 251L6 and a lot of the heavy truck applications use the sodium valves.what u do is turn the block uoside down so the oil can run down into the giude area.Ive also found that well used tranny fluid works better than new for some reason.
heat the valve head with a propane or mapp gas torch will draw the oil down into the guide with little worry of damage..add a generous portion of patience..and i use the cam to gently work the valves as carefully as possible..add a little oil and heat.work it a little..repeat..itll usually come.