Valve seals for a 1987 Crossflow 1700 SuperSprint

[AnkerB-S]

I have pulled the head from my 1700 cc Xflow engine to inspect the valve train and cylinders for wear. The valve sheals are completely shot. They don't seal at all to the guides and poorly to the stems. I had bought some seals from Pegasus here in the US, but they are the wrong size. Can someone tell me what seals I need and where I can purchase them?

Thank you in advance/Anker

[OldAndrewE]

Anker, no idea about supply in the US but from the UK Burton Power should be able to help you

Ford, Cosworth & Lotus Twin Cam Performance Engine Tuning Parts Specialist (burtonpower.com)

[Roger King]

I'm assuming this is a factory supplied Supersprint.

The official Ford seals will only fit inside single valve springs and are a bit like an umbrella. They don't attach to the valve guide and can move up and down with the valves. They work by having such a large diameter that by the time the oil drips off them it completely misses the guide. This is obviously less than perfect but works reasonably well.

From memory, the Supersprint was fitted with Mini stem seals. These fit inside the inner spring and have a lip which is meant fit into a retaining groove in the top of the Mini guide. This locates them in place, but, the Crossflow guide is integral with the head and has no such groove - which means that the seals are not properly located and just go up and down with the valves, often getting chewed up in the process. They are almost worse than useless.

The solution we used was to machine the top of the guide to the correct o/d to press fit Vauxhall XE stem seals. This works perfectly. Other stem seals are available!

I'm afraid there is no satisfactory answer without doing a bit of machining.

[AnkerB-S]

Thanks Roger,

I think I have found some seals that will work properly. We shall see.

When I have done the seals I have another question. I bought a head gasket and wonder whether it is installed dry, The old one was stuck really hard to both the head and case and split apart when we pried the head from the crankcase. Yes, using cylinder compression wasn't enough to loosen it, so I just wonder whether it was coated with castor oil or something else before installation. I did buy an incredibly expensive new head gasket and I would hate to ruin it by not installing it properly.

Anker

[Roger King]

Generally, you wouldn't use anything on the head gasket. The exception to this is when you have a copper/asbestos (or asbestos substitute) gasket because they tend to leak around the waterways. However, I have never encountered such a gasket for the Crossflow so the answer is almost certainly to fit it dry.

What make is it?

[AnkerB-S]

I stupidly threw the packaging away before I pulled the head. I bought it from Summit Racing in the US and the gasket itself has a waxy feel. I am confident that based on your reply and the appearance and feel of the gasket that it goes on dry.

Thanks for the help!