Ironhead head specs

[big andy]

Well took these heads back to the shop that put all the new parts in when i told him the valve height was off .He looked at me like i was a fool he said I measured the valve height and he set them at 1380 just over the minimum allowed.So I took out my cheap auto store digital vernier caliper and was about to measure them from the guide shoulder to the tip of the valve stem as shown in the fsm .Well he snatched the head off me and said using my cheap ass vernier caliper was an insult to him and he promptly got his larger and no doubt more expensive caliper and took to measuring the valve height .guess what he got the same measurement as mine did.So he said come back the next day and he will have ground the seats down to bring the height to spec.So after paying 750 for the job with me supplying all the parts and sixteen hours driving and two hundred bucks in fuel.And dont forget the ear bashing off the wife.What have learned from this experience .One getting work done on old harleys in oz sucks big time .Two allways check work you get done even if you think they are a good company to deal with .Never think because the work was done by trades qualified persons.That its right .We all make mistakes.So after this these heads are good to install .yeh. But still have to deal with the wife.Wonder if flowers will work

[brucstoudt]

i,guess he didn't offer to pay for the fuel,either.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by big andy

Well took these heads back to the shop that put all the new parts in when i told him the valve height was off .He looked at me like i was a fool he said I measured the valve height and he set them at 1380 just over the minimum allowed.So I took out my cheap auto store digital vernier caliper and was about to measure them from the guide shoulder to the tip of the valve stem as shown in the fsm .Well he snatched the head off me and said using my cheap ass vernier caliper was an insult to him and he promptly got his larger and no doubt more expensive caliper and took to measuring the valve height .guess what he got the same measurement as mine did.So he said come back the next day and he will have ground the seats down to bring the height to spec.So after paying 750 for the job with me supplying all the parts and sixteen hours driving and two hundred bucks in fuel.And dont forget the ear bashing off the wife.What have learned from this experience .One getting work done on old harleys in oz sucks big time .Two allways check work you get done even if you think they are a good company to deal with .Never think because the work was done by trades qualified persons.That its right .We all make mistakes.So after this these heads are good to install .yeh. But still have to deal with the wife.Wonder if flowers will work

I have learned to never tell the wife of my shop mishaps, one, they don't really know about what we are talking of, two, all they see are the amounts of money spent, and three, they would much rather see our hobbies to include washing the windows of the homestead... Yes Dear....

[gungatim]

For that kind of money, couldn't you have bought the tools and done it yourself? are neway cutters and reams available in OZ or not something you wanted to tackle? Sounds like you already have a good understanding of the geometry and how to use a caliper...sorry you got hosed on the deal.

[big andy]

Originally Posted by gungatim

For that kind of money, couldn't you have bought the tools and done it yourself? are neway cutters and reams available in OZ or not something you wanted to tackle? Sounds like you already have a good understanding of the geometry and how to use a caliper...sorry you got hosed on the deal.

thanks for the reply if i only had to put guides in and face valves and cut the seat i might have done it myself but due to having to put in hard valve seats that was out of my comfort zone .And my know how so i thought do the right thing and use a pro well that didnt work out to good .But all is good to go now just got to paint the heads and jugs and put it together.

[madfox22]

Originally Posted by rivethog

The max/min spec for valve stem protrusion is to insure proper rocker arm geometry, not piston-to-valve clearance.

Pistons won't hit the valves and that setting. Rocker arm geometry is the correct reason for the stem protrusion spec. 1.345 won't hurt a thing! Better to be there than 1.385
I usually don't go over $450 - $500 for a valve job on the two heads, but I try to re-face and use the valves over if possible.
New valves, new guides, can run a pretty penny if they are quality parts. Also I didn't see any mention of wether or not the heads had to be machined for hardened seats or wether they were already machined and new ones were just installed.
If the counterbores had to be machined to accomodate hard seats,the price of $750 is not so far out of range because of the time involved in the machining and striving to get everything within specs.
I see you furnished your own parts so this makes the $750 labor only. I think I could furnish the parts, machine for & install hard seats and maybe do both heads for around $800.00.
The difference may be that I do them quite often and this guy may do them only occasionaly.

[gungatim]

Didn't realize you had to machine for valve seat inserts, that is definitely more work and out of my comfort zone as well...old seats must have been really tore up.

[madfox22]

Orginal heads have the valves seating directly on the castings. You can reface a seat area in these casting several times and still have the valves seating properly whlile maintaining a valve stem height that may not be exactly according to specs, but will work.
Eventually though, you lose enough material in the head that the valve stem height is so excessive you cannot remove the push rods unless you use a screw driver and manually pry on the push rod (opening the valve slightly) and get the ball of the push rod out of the lifter socket. You will still have adjustment due to the length of the adjusting screw and the depth of the lifter socket, but the geometry of the rocker arms are off.
Once the valves are "sucked" into the head that far, you have no choice but to machine out the casting area and install seats to start the process over.
Hardened seats last a long time, but are replaceable if you ever get to that point again.
There are seats out there that are NOT hardened. Be sure whoever does the work know he is using hard seats.