Thread: refacing auto valves on a lathe

I have a old Lincoln DC welder driven by a Holden 179 red motor. I bought it in a sad state.

The head on the motor was a mess ..rusty stuck valves and the seats corroded . As it's only a stationary engine, I did a budget rebuild of the head.

The valves I refaced in the Sheraton lathe . I am a total newbie to this .. After experimenting I found the best speed was the slowest I could get , about 60 RPM with back gear engaged . I don't have fancy collets , I dialed them in in a 4 jaw chuck . I made a facing tool and it worked very well. I set it to 45 degrees approx. The valves were not as hard as I thought and they cleaned up great .I had to remove a fair bit as they were badly grooved .

I used a stone to grind the seats , by hand , then some lapping with paste

The engine runs well now.

Mike