valve seal removal

[caddidaddy55]

Hi guys, I am redoing head gaskets on my third Northstar. As long as the valve seals come with the gasket set I thought I would replace them too. The heads are off and I can get the valve springs off no problem, but how do you pull off the seals? Never Mind they are not that tight come off pretty easy with a slip joint pliers.

[BodybyFisher]

Remove the valve spring retainer and valve spring.

Important

The valve stem seal should not be removed unless replacement is required.

use the J 38820 in order to grip the seal. Remove the seal by exerting a twisting, pulling motion. Discard the old valve stem seal

It is my understanding that the valve seals rarely need replacing, but maybe someone else will chime in on that

[Jan Olsson]

Hi guys, I am redoing head gaskets on my third Northstar. As long as the valve seals come with the gasket set I thought I would replace them too. The heads are off and I can get the valve springs off no problem, but how do you pull off the seals?

Replace them if you are worried about them, I wouldn't worry though. They seem to keep their softness and the spring tension. The worst thing that could happen is that you get a blue smoke cloud everytime fou fire the engine up from a cold condition

I use a piece of thin sheet metal formed as a cone, I slide o-rings and seals over the cone in order to avoid sharp edges when replacing o-rings and seals.

[KHE]

The valve stem seals are viton and rarely go bad. If the replacement seals are not viton, they could go bad in short order - leaving you with clouds of blue smoke on startup. If your car did not puff blue smoke on startup before the headgasket job, I'd just leave the existing seals alone...