I have been rebuilding engines since 1974 and I have had mixed results with unleaded gas in older leaded motors. I would not worry about a short trip daily driver unless it is required to tow or otherwise haul heavy loads. If you find that some of your valve seats need replacing, you will most likely be only able to replace them with hardened seats anyway. Do not worry about the intakes, I have never seen one fail due to lack of leaded gas. If you are going to tow or run hard, make sure that you have real exhaust valves and not intakes that have been ground down to exhaust diameter. I have torched over a dozen exhaust valves in older air and water cooled engines, but they were either tow or race vehicles. Lapping the valves is OK as long as the seats do not get too wide, I recommend a triple angle valve job, because this is the best(only?) way to keep your seats from getting too wide. Valve guides should not exceed the factory limits. Do not attempt a valve job until your guid!
es have been checked and or replaced. Good Luck.
Dave Fillman
45MB
---- you wrote:
> Hello List:
> I'm tearing down my M38 L-head engine for partial rebuild and am wondering
> about the lifespan of original valve seats versus hardened insert valve seats
> with the use of today's unleaded gas. Anyone have experience with just using
> standard valve seats, or is it worthwile having the seats inserted with
> hardened units? If I left them alone (with the exception of seating valves
> with valve grinding compound), what sort of lifespan could I expect? I'm
> intending to use this as a daily driver.
>
> Phil Fentress
> Memphis TN
> '52 M38
> '96 Electric Barbie Jeep (actually my 7 year old's)
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