Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBird05
How old are those heads? They don't look like they have the hardened valve seats in them. The valve job won't last long with todays gas if the seats aren't hardened.
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I had an interesting conversation with an engine builder last weekend on that. He all but refuses to put them in race and boat engines, and strongly urged me not to put them in my truck engine. He had a box of pistons that were all beat up from seats coming loose, and a few heads that were wrecked as well. He recommended taking the heads off at 70-80k and getting a valve job and not worrying about the seats beyond that.
I'm guessing his experience with HO engines might not be perfectly representative of what a typical auto engine goes through, but he does have me reconsidering my stance on hardened seats. I'd be curious to know what experience others have had with or without hardened seats.