70MCx2 Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 I'm in the process of rebuilding a 454 for my '70, and the rotators under the exhaust valves on the passenger side came right off, not so lucky on the driver side. All four are stuck, and I've managed to break them and get the top half off, but the base is still stuck. I can get them to spin, but can't get under them to lift them up and out. Anybody ever had this problem, and hopefully got a suggestion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 I never heard of them getting stuck. I know that oil will cause a vacuum and make them hard to get out. Try to blow some compressed air around them with an air chuck. Most performance cams recommend that you replace them with spacers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70MCx2 Posted April 19, 2013 Author Share Posted April 19, 2013 Okay, thanks. I tried putting some heat to them yesterday, thinking they might expand a little and loosen from the valve guide, but didn't have any luck. I will try the air hose and if that fails, will have it vatted and see if that helps. Barring that, may have to go to a machine shop. A friend, who used to wrench on Eddie Hill's Top Fuel ride, is helping me with the rebuild, and he told me the same thing about throwing them in the trash and using spacers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70MCx2 Posted April 20, 2013 Author Share Posted April 20, 2013 Well folks, to answer my own question: it ain't easy. I finally got them out this evening, but it was harder'n hades to do it. It took me a couple days with a drill and chisel, and I finally got the top half and the internal parts out, leaving just the base. The problem wasn't oil underneath causing a vacuum, or the base being stuck on the bottom by carbon buildup. The problem turned out to be the inside diameter of the rotator was VERY tight against the valve guide. What I ended up having to do was to take a dremel and cut across the outer edge of the base on two opposite sides. Once I got that done, I took two small screwdrivers and placed them underneath opposite ends of the flat spots, and pried up as I turned the base in a circular motion. This allowed it to spin upward as opposed to trying to pry it straight up, which was impossible. Once I got it up off the bottom and about halfway up the valve guide, I got some large Channelocks and grabbed the two flat spots and rotated it back and forth as I pulled it up and finally out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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