Hi guys I've got a 79 308 thats been in the family for almost 30 years, but now i'm afraid to drive it because of the sodium valves. I've made up my mind to pull the heads, and change them so i have a few questions. The car has 35000 original miles(sat for most of the 30 years), is there anything else i should be doing since i'm there? Who do you recommend for the new valves? Any help would be appreciated. Thx Gino
Call Si Valves and get guides and new valves. The valves are an off the shelf unit and the fit and finish is perfect. No wait. About $28 per valve and $10 a guide and you are in great shape.
+ 1 for Si Valve train, very good products. Guides and stem seals are a definate recommendation to be sure the ehads only come off once. Be sure to leak test the piston rings also to verify you don't need to go further.
Thx guys A few more questions - who do you recommend for the gasket set? Are the liner seals prone to failure? I would hate to go through all this and then have to do all over again. Thanks for the help.
Liner seals are not prone to failure although it is a somewhat contested subject. As for gaskets, there are many suppliers but the OEM Elring headgaskets are a must.
Thanks John What would you do if you were in my shoes? Remove the heads and swap out the valves, or, remove the engine and do everything - that would be shame because of the low mileage, and it runs great. Just looking for some guidance from someone who has been there. thx
Agreed on Elring head gaskets, definately a must. The combo of 35k AND sitting quite alot, I assume mostly in the most recent years leaves me suspicious. These engine almost always "run great", their problems don't usually jump right out unless it's already catastrophic. I would want to pull the motor and do a "freshen up" just to AVOID all the oil leaks that will follow once you start running this thing regularly. Replacing piston rings w/o liners tend to be troublesome, I'd do a leakage test and if the rings hold well replace the liner o-rings and reassemble with asll new bearings, seals and soak the rings in oil before sliding them back in.
Of the folks posting: Have all of you had valves break? Or are you following the cases and adding it to the list of 308 improvements? I ask this because it's not on my to-do list right now. Someday, if I undertake a rebuild, should this be something to address? Also, +1 on Elring. They are great - imho.
