I I have probably lapped well over a thousand valves. I gave up years ago trying to get them stupid suction cups to work LOL. I had brass teeth made for my drill and all I do is check the valve stem up in the drill and from the other side of the head I do my lapping .so much easier. You can use any drill, if you want to take the time to put some duct tape on the end of your valve. you'll be good to go. The guy that made this video knows what he's doing he was at the right speed and used the right amount of compound.
Hello. Awesome idea grabbing the valve from the stem end. Where did you find brass teeth for your drill? I would totally do it that way as long as the stem wasn’t damaged. Thanks for the nice comment and suggestions! 👍
@@FastFixRUclips I had them custom made by a local fab shop. You really don't need them. you can take a empty brass shell casing and cut the neck down part that holds the bullet off and fit it over the end of the valve and then chuck that up in your drill. Or just use tape
When you're drilling the valves back in with the suction tool, you wanna drill back and forth; a few seconds clockwise, then a few seconds anti-clockwise, and repeat, until you no longer hear the grit. This is better than just continuously rotating the valves in a single direction. Just a pointer.
i guess Im asking randomly but does someone know a trick to get back into an Instagram account?? I was dumb lost the password. I love any assistance you can give me!
@Erick Levi thanks for your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm trying it out atm. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Thanks very much for your thoughtful and well produced video! I'm working on my first flathead engine and potentially first valve job. As usual, I do a lot of research to learn tools and techniques before diving in. While watching the ridiculous old school method of back and forth spinning a hand tool on multiple videos I thought there must be a better way and contemplated buying a standard set with 4 suction cups and mounting them on 5/16ths dowels to chuck in my drill. Now you've pretty much confirmed my thought process so that's what I'll do first. I can control my drill right down to almost a standstill very easily and just as easily either reverse direction (which I actually see no need for) or simply lift and drop as necessary to get more lapping compound on the seating area. If all else fails I can go back to the old fashioned way because I'll have the wooden hand tools stored.
Hey there! Yes, your intuition is absolutely correct. No need to do it the old school way. There are of course techniques and hacks that they use to make the suction cup and hand method work, but the drill is the best by far. Like you said, you can control the speed to a standstill if you want. And yes, just lift the drill to get more compound i between the valve and valve seat. It worked perfectly. Best of luck with your project. Sounds pretty fun 👍
Thanks for the helpful videos I don’t know if I missed it but how do you clean the heads so well before paint I have some that are pretty rusty can I use evapo rust remover?
Hello. Yes, that will work. I used engine degreaser. These heads weren’t very rusty and only had sod surface rust. It takes a good while to clean however. The parts washer at your local machine shop will do a quick and good job. If you don’t have several hours and a young back to put into the heads, I’d recommend the machine shop 👍
I've always just attached a vacume line to the valve stem and attached the vacuum line to a dril and then used my finger to control how close the valve is.
Hello. I’ve never heard of someone doing that, but the cutting compound should get them to final smoothness. If you try, let me know the results. Thanks for the question!
Hello. I tried it wet too, but no luck. I’m chalking it up to lack of experience on this. I know a lot of people use the manual method with success, I just didn’t have the talent. Problem solved with power tools, haha 👍
@FastFixRUclips so I spoke to soon. I'm actually enrolled in a tech school taking engine repair and basic electrical right now and was able to experience first hand the complications and pros and cons of valve lapping the day after I posted that comment and I will say valve lapping is a pain in the ass...wet or not wet that suction cup will only stick if it wants to regardless if ur doing it by hand or with the drill 😀
Hahaha, well I’m glad I wasn’t the only one having issues 😂😂😂. Several people say to chuck the valve stem in a drill and do it that way. The issue I see with this is scratching the valve stem in the drill chuck. Some people use brass chucks to resolve this issue, but I have no idea where to acquire those. Anyway, best of luck at tech school! That’s awesome man!
The reason your hand lapping hasn't gone well is the fat diameter of the wooden bit , you need to stick it in the lathe and thin it right down to a concave section where your hands would use it , the thinned section will increase the speed , sit your valve seats level , using the biggest sucker on your valve is best , those suckers almost look plastic-ey as they get older and well used they soften and work better .
@@FastFixRUclips Yes, adding a thin layer of water adds surface tension into the mix (I learned it from playing with suction cups in the bathroom lol). Also, who makes your valve lapper? I have an old Blue Point VL3 and that think sticks (and I got it second hand...) I even made the mistake of sticking it to my forehead lol...left a mark) I do like your idea, although I would just cut the lapper in two, and lathe (can you lathe wood? Im not a carpenter lol) to a more maneageable diameter unless the chuck you have is big enough. Also, a wood screw with a hex head screwed in the middle of the cut could work, but I would also put a hose clamp around the end to help the wood not crack under load. I think it may be overkill though but I like thinking of odd ball ways to do a task easier and faster (Im really lazy lol)
@@RipRoaringGarage Ha! Well those sound like interesting ideas and perhaps worth a shot! I don't know who made the lap tool....it was a cheapo from Amazon. Perhaps the extra money would help with a better functioning tool. Next time! Thanks for the comment.
You're using an excessive amount of grinding compound. That much is not needed. The trick is to just coat the surfaces grind it until gone and do it again.
Also it's much easier to just chuck the valve tip from the other end of the head in your drill and use light pressure pulling the valve into the seat. Forget the wooden tool. This is also a good way to check for a bent valve with a drill.
@@FastFixRUclips the cylinder head shops I've been to all use the drill chuck on the valve to lap quickly. It works good and its fast likely with the smaller amount of grinding compound it should take about 3 times of lapping and reapplying the compound per valve but it goes very quickly with a drill.
Sean Georgi if it slips, the chuck will mar the valve, just like a drill bit which slips. The teeth of the chuck are also pushing into a hardened material with very precise tolerances. It’s not a case of if you have no issues then it’s ok, but basic material physics. Great if you have no issues, but it’s the wrong way of doing it. I’ve seen a lot of vids with a piece of tubing, that should be ok, but for the life of me, the price of a wooden hand tool or drill suction cup is so low, I cannot understand why people just don’t buy the right tools for the job. Good luck and regards.
You should have cut your valve seats first at a 3 angle cut. Why using this tool with the drill if you could just put the drill on the other side and pull and damage this way your valves? 😁 Buy a 25$ valve grinding tool which does the left right turning perfectly. Anyway, your valve seats were anyway out of specs.
Hello. The valves did have a 3 angle cut already. I didn’t go on the valve stem because I didn’t want the drill chuck to damage the stem. Valve specs were perfect and the motor runs better than it ever has. Thanks.
@@FastFixRUclips I've heard people say shit about using a drill also. If you are spinning it 72,000 rpm's then no I don't agree. But doing it like you are doing is fine in my eyes, I do many sets per week and you can bet your ass I'm not spinning it by hand 🤣. Doesn't matter how you do it if you can hear your compound.
@@carbonconnection2480 bro same I recently started porting and polishing for any heads before 73 and seen people spin their air lapper at 50k rpm at that point you’re removing so much aluminum the valve is seated way to far in there in the end and I have to make miracles happen.
@@carbonconnection2480 if you can hear it ur good I like to take a thick piece of Mahogany and lay it on my concrete floor. It amplifies the grinding sound x10 and you can go a lot faster.
I used a drill a long time ago as a shortcut, and it ruined the seats and valves. Not something I would do again, but hey, if it works for you, crack on.
You really should have the valve facing straight vertical, and you shouldn't use a drill. To be honest, you just shouldn't be lapping valves in the 21st century, it's not that expensive to have your local machine shop cut your seats on a Serdi and grind your valves if you've disassembled and cleaned the heads yourself. I'm a trade-qualified automotive machinist.
![Save Money And Lap Your Own Valves! [Measured Results]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TPCrR-R7cTY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Save Money And Lap Your Own Valves! [Measured Results]](/img/tr.png)
I I have probably lapped well over a thousand valves. I gave up years ago trying to get them stupid suction cups to work LOL. I had brass teeth made for my drill and all I do is check the valve stem up in the drill and from the other side of the head I do my lapping .so much easier. You can use any drill, if you want to take the time to put some duct tape on the end of your valve. you'll be good to go. The guy that made this video knows what he's doing he was at the right speed and used the right amount of compound.
Hello. Awesome idea grabbing the valve from the stem end. Where did you find brass teeth for your drill? I would totally do it that way as long as the stem wasn’t damaged. Thanks for the nice comment and suggestions! 👍
@@FastFixRUclips I had them custom made by a local fab shop. You really don't need them. you can take a empty brass shell casing and cut the neck down part that holds the bullet off and fit it over the end of the valve and then chuck that up in your drill. Or just use tape
@@FastFixRUclips I have a video on my channel of my process
When you're drilling the valves back in with the suction tool, you wanna drill back and forth; a few seconds clockwise, then a few seconds anti-clockwise, and repeat, until you no longer hear the grit. This is better than just continuously rotating the valves in a single direction. Just a pointer.
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll be doing heads again over the winter and will give your method a shot. 👍
i guess Im asking randomly but does someone know a trick to get back into an Instagram account??
I was dumb lost the password. I love any assistance you can give me!
@Toby Ricardo Instablaster ;)
@Erick Levi thanks for your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm trying it out atm.
Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Erick Levi it did the trick and I now got access to my account again. Im so happy!
Thank you so much you really help me out !
Thanks very much for your thoughtful and well produced video!
I'm working on my first flathead engine and potentially first valve job. As usual, I do a lot of research to learn tools and techniques before diving in. While watching the ridiculous old school method of back and forth spinning a hand tool on multiple videos I thought there must be a better way and contemplated buying a standard set with 4 suction cups and mounting them on 5/16ths dowels to chuck in my drill. Now you've pretty much confirmed my thought process so that's what I'll do first. I can control my drill right down to almost a standstill very easily and just as easily either reverse direction (which I actually see no need for) or simply lift and drop as necessary to get more lapping compound on the seating area. If all else fails I can go back to the old fashioned way because I'll have the wooden hand tools stored.
Hey there! Yes, your intuition is absolutely correct. No need to do it the old school way. There are of course techniques and hacks that they use to make the suction cup and hand method work, but the drill is the best by far. Like you said, you can control the speed to a standstill if you want. And yes, just lift the drill to get more compound i between the valve and valve seat. It worked perfectly. Best of luck with your project. Sounds pretty fun 👍
Had the same trouble with the suction cups popping off. I super glued mine on the stick. Been good ever since
Nice! I’ll maybe give that a try next time. Thanks for the comment 👍
😂 it took me the entire day with that old tool, slipping badly. Next time i will do likewise. Thanks mate!
Any time! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. Appreciated!
Use an old Bit Brace chucked up to the valve stem and start turning. That way you won't have to fight hearing over the drill motor. Works like a charm
Hello. Yes, I like that idea. There’s a guy who said he got a custom brass chuck made for his drill and it works great. Thanks 👍
Excellent suggestion! I'm too cheap to buy an oscillating tool and grinding in multi valve heads with a stick and sucker sucks my will to live!
Hello friend, put the rubber on a short shaft, and put a spring between valve and seat, and you will see that it works better.
Good tip 👍 appreciate it
Thanks for the video! I'll be doing a SBC soon.
You’re welcome! Have fun with your project 👍
thanks for a really well done video and explanation.
You are welcome!
Nice useful tips, thank you
Bruh that lapping handle got bout 10ft of run-out iiiiight precision 👌
Good call 👍
@@FastFixRUclips yuuup slip those in the trash 👎
Thanks for the helpful videos I don’t know if I missed it but how do you clean the heads so well before paint I have some that are pretty rusty can I use evapo rust remover?
Hello. Yes, that will work. I used engine degreaser. These heads weren’t very rusty and only had sod surface rust. It takes a good while to clean however. The parts washer at your local machine shop will do a quick and good job. If you don’t have several hours and a young back to put into the heads, I’d recommend the machine shop 👍
How did you find this worked when the engine was built back up? This looks like a far more agreeable way of lapping the valves in!
It worked great! I’ll use this method every time now 👍
I've always just attached a vacume line to the valve stem and attached the vacuum line to a dril and then used my finger to control how close the valve is.
Ahh, yes good idea 👍
put the drill on the stem, pull back gently, go in BOTH directions.
Hello. Yes that is a good method as well. Thanks for the advice and the comment. Take care!
I just had a dumb idea. Would it be OK to use a paint cutting compound after you finish regular valve lapping to get a nicer, smoother finish? 🙂
Hello. I’ve never heard of someone doing that, but the cutting compound should get them to final smoothness. If you try, let me know the results. Thanks for the question!
I used glass polishing paste for final finish because valves and hardened seats are a lot harder than paint
what year it is that we are laping the valves ? O_o ... 60's?
😂😂😂 fair point!
im sorry but how do u expect the suction to stick with it not being wet?
Hello. I tried it wet too, but no luck. I’m chalking it up to lack of experience on this. I know a lot of people use the manual method with success, I just didn’t have the talent. Problem solved with power tools, haha 👍
@FastFixRUclips so I spoke to soon. I'm actually enrolled in a tech school taking engine repair and basic electrical right now and was able to experience first hand the complications and pros and cons of valve lapping the day after I posted that comment and I will say valve lapping is a pain in the ass...wet or not wet that suction cup will only stick if it wants to regardless if ur doing it by hand or with the drill 😀
Hahaha, well I’m glad I wasn’t the only one having issues 😂😂😂. Several people say to chuck the valve stem in a drill and do it that way. The issue I see with this is scratching the valve stem in the drill chuck. Some people use brass chucks to resolve this issue, but I have no idea where to acquire those. Anyway, best of luck at tech school! That’s awesome man!
Gas hose on the valve stem and then into the drill. Works a million times better than anything.
Yes, that’s an excellent method and what I will do next time. Thanks for the info! 👍👍😊
So, can a person do this type of Lapping on a 3-Angle Valve Job?
I ask because that's what I have. 🤔
You bet! These heads also had a 3-angle valve job 👍
The reason your hand lapping hasn't gone well is the fat diameter of the wooden bit , you need to stick it in the lathe and thin it right down to a concave section where your hands would use it , the thinned section will increase the speed , sit your valve seats level , using the biggest sucker on your valve is best , those suckers almost look plastic-ey as they get older and well used they soften and work better .
Good advice! Thank you sir 👍
It's the back and forth motion from your hands that makes a better seal.
But the drill works so well!
Put water on the suction cup. It will stick better
Thanks. I’ll try that next time 👍
Practice makes perfect, The old school why is much better. You can't feel your work as you progress with a drill.
Give the drill method a try and let me know what you think and if your mind changes
@@FastFixRUclips I don't want to ruin my valve guides.
It doesn't stick because the valve isn't flat.
Lots of reasons why it doesn’t stick. With more practice I could do it, but I love using the drill 👍
I just spit on my tool and it usually sticks like glue
Hmm, I’ll maybe give that a try next time.
@@FastFixRUclips Yes, adding a thin layer of water adds surface tension into the mix (I learned it from playing with suction cups in the bathroom lol). Also, who makes your valve lapper? I have an old Blue Point VL3 and that think sticks (and I got it second hand...) I even made the mistake of sticking it to my forehead lol...left a mark)
I do like your idea, although I would just cut the lapper in two, and lathe (can you lathe wood? Im not a carpenter lol) to a more maneageable diameter unless the chuck you have is big enough. Also, a wood screw with a hex head screwed in the middle of the cut could work, but I would also put a hose clamp around the end to help the wood not crack under load. I think it may be overkill though but I like thinking of odd ball ways to do a task easier and faster (Im really lazy lol)
@@RipRoaringGarage Ha! Well those sound like interesting ideas and perhaps worth a shot! I don't know who made the lap tool....it was a cheapo from Amazon. Perhaps the extra money would help with a better functioning tool. Next time! Thanks for the comment.
You're using an excessive amount of grinding compound. That much is not needed. The trick is to just coat the surfaces grind it until gone and do it again.
Also it's much easier to just chuck the valve tip from the other end of the head in your drill and use light pressure pulling the valve into the seat. Forget the wooden tool. This is also a good way to check for a bent valve with a drill.
That makes sense. Thanks for the advice. Will try that method next time for sure. 👍
@@FastFixRUclips the cylinder head shops I've been to all use the drill chuck on the valve to lap quickly. It works good and its fast likely with the smaller amount of grinding compound it should take about 3 times of lapping and reapplying the compound per valve but it goes very quickly with a drill.
Just chuck the drill on the tip of the valve stem
I would urge you not to chuck the valve stem directly into a drill. The stem would invariably be damaged by the metal claws of the drill.
@@FastFixRUclips done many sets this way zero issues
Sean Georgi if it slips, the chuck will mar the valve, just like a drill bit which slips. The teeth of the chuck are also pushing into a hardened material with very precise tolerances. It’s not a case of if you have no issues then it’s ok, but basic material physics. Great if you have no issues, but it’s the wrong way of doing it. I’ve seen a lot of vids with a piece of tubing, that should be ok, but for the life of me, the price of a wooden hand tool or drill suction cup is so low, I cannot understand why people just don’t buy the right tools for the job. Good luck and regards.
I dunno why everyone has such an aversion to lapping valves the correct way. It's really not that hard.
There are several correct methods, this being one of them.
You should have cut your valve seats first at a 3 angle cut. Why using this tool with the drill if you could just put the drill on the other side and pull and damage this way your valves? 😁
Buy a 25$ valve grinding tool which does the left right turning perfectly.
Anyway, your valve seats were anyway out of specs.
Hello. The valves did have a 3 angle cut already. I didn’t go on the valve stem because I didn’t want the drill chuck to damage the stem. Valve specs were perfect and the motor runs better than it ever has. Thanks.
@@FastFixRUclips Did you by any chance do individual cylinder leakdown test? Results?
You should go in both directions
Yes, I agree. Somehow it didn’t occur to me at the time. Thanks for the suggestion 👍
Seems like you need to clean those valve guides up. Looks a little stiff
You are correct
@@FastFixRUclips I've heard people say shit about using a drill also. If you are spinning it 72,000 rpm's then no I don't agree. But doing it like you are doing is fine in my eyes, I do many sets per week and you can bet your ass I'm not spinning it by hand 🤣. Doesn't matter how you do it if you can hear your compound.
@@carbonconnection2480 bro same I recently started porting and polishing for any heads before 73 and seen people spin their air lapper at 50k rpm at that point you’re removing so much aluminum the valve is seated way to far in there in the end and I have to make miracles happen.
@@carbonconnection2480 if you can hear it ur good I like to take a thick piece of Mahogany and lay it on my concrete floor. It amplifies the grinding sound x10 and you can go a lot faster.
@@akkadianrecords3709 why only before 73?
I used a drill a long time ago as a shortcut, and it ruined the seats and valves. Not something I would do again, but hey, if it works for you, crack on.
Cracking on! 👍
You really should have the valve facing straight vertical, and you shouldn't use a drill. To be honest, you just shouldn't be lapping valves in the 21st century, it's not that expensive to have your local machine shop cut your seats on a Serdi and grind your valves if you've disassembled and cleaned the heads yourself. I'm a trade-qualified automotive machinist.
🤷♂️