Exhaust Valve

[Mike6]

Dropped an exhaust valve from a height of about 3 feet onto patio paving slabs having spent hours and hours grinding them all in by hand (resisted cheating). The valve doesnt seem to have suffered any damage but now worrying that it could have become weaker.

Should I get buy another one or is it likely to be ok.

[andydclements]

It depends how it landed. If it landed with the valve stem pretty much vertical than I doubt that drop would do any damage, it has a lot less momentum than when it's hitting the valve seats at 7 1/2 k rpm. If it landed with just one side of the valve hitting the slab than it may have caused some damage, but that then becomes a guessing game, one where you could purchase a new valve unnecessarily or where you could end up with it embedded in your piston crown and cylinder head.

Personally I'd risk wasting a few £s on a replacement one if it's not known how it landed.

[Mike6]

Thanks Andy. Thats made my mind up.

I will just have to put the expense down to experience and make sure everything has a soft landing in future

[Vulcan Grey]

Won't be weaker, but it might be bent. You can check run-out, usually on a lathe with a dial indicator.

Did it scratch the valve sealing surfaces at all?

A new sodium filled exhaust valve for an SE was getting pretty hard to find, I'm not sure if the '88 Turbo valves are the same, but you may have difficulty finding one.

[ragingfool35]

are there good alternatives to the sodium filled valve out now?