<VV> 140 Valve Seats

[Sweet, Bill]

All Vair lovers,
I have been a reading member of this agust organization for at least two
years but only once hav contributed to the mix.

I have never dropped a valve seat on my 66 140 monza convertible but
most surely have had a serious bout with detonation and over heating
when climbing the mountain road Hiway 17 out of San Jose to Santa Cruz,
Ca. The route is not all that steep but, when you have to shift down to
second to make the grade and it still overheats and pings, it is time to
do something.
I was using 92 Octain, with an octain booster at the time, and the head
temp read over 400 F.
When I decided to attend the 1999 national convention at lake Tahoe, I
decided I had to do something drastic.
I removed the carbs and the upper sheetmetal and proceded to open up the
fin air passages in the heads. It was obvious that they had never been
done, either at the factory or at engine rebuild in roughly 1990 (prior
to my purchasing the vehicle). After much sawing with a keyhole saw and
filing I had free and open passages for the air.

After replacing all the sheetmetal and carbs, I was able to negotiate
the highway 17 to Santa Cruz with ease, no over heating and no pinging,
same timing setting. My head temp had dropped to under 300 F. By the
time I went to Lake Tahoe, I was running 89 octain, no octain boost, 14
degree advance and climbed highway US 50 to the rim of the lake without
a need to down shift from 4th gear. My temp never quite reached 400 F at
the most demanding portion of the trip.

I am now running 87 octain, no octain boost, and no pinging on the
flatland. I am a firm believer in the reworking the head air passages to
get the best performance and to provide the most assurance that the
valve seats will stay put.

Thanks for listening,

66 Monza, 62 8 door Greenbriar

Bill Sweet (SOB, sweet ole bill)
bill_sweet@alliedtelesyn.com