Brass valve guides

Generally . i would say the stock cast exhaust is going to provide the longest guide / stem life .
Tillers and such lasted years .
even the aliminum block guide last quite a long time with little stem wear .
though they do wear .
on my race engines with the silicon/bronze the guides give up pretty quickly . that with race cams and spring , slapper style = abused .
one season maybe two they are at a loose stage . the stem itself seems to hold up well .
comparing the wear on a ten year old stem too a race engine is kinda apples to oranges . one is visible the other is only evident with good measuring tools .
the trouble expended making brass guides vs redaly avalible guides seems fruitless , except the satisfaction of doing it .
 
flattop1 said:
Generally . i would say the stock cast exhaust is going to provide the longest guide / stem life .
Tillers and such lasted years .
even the aliminum block guide last quite a long time with little stem wear .
though they do wear .
on my race engines with the silicon/bronze the guides give up pretty quickly . that with race cams and spring , slapper style = abused .
one season maybe two they are at a loose stage . the stem itself seems to hold up well .
comparing the wear on a ten year old stem too a race engine is kinda apples to oranges . one is visible the other is only evident with good measuring tools .
the trouble expended making brass guides vs redaly avalible guides seems fruitless , except the satisfaction of doing it .
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I already made the guides they are c360 brass. Just wondering if they will last
 
Ten - 4 I am a lets try it type . After all thats likely what they used in 1910 .
if you have a thick enough wall a spiral groove for oil retention would be nice .
Mr Carlson wil likey have some input .
W P always has great thought as well .
 
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What life expectancy are you wanting , . ?
After reading the link Freezeman put up a second time . Bronze is the preffered material .
 
I admire a guy who likes to tinker and make things but really, for a stock application, you can buy a new stock head for the same amount of money and time as you will have into this..
 
myself….. I would look into heat and expansion and contraction of brass to bronze. May require a different amount of clearance to keep valve to guide life happy. Personally I can’t see it wearing at the same rate as bronze… but it may be worth a shot.
 
flattop1 said:
One good thing about a flathead . You can service the guides without full disassembly.
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Yes for sure. I work at a company wher I have access to Cnc and Swiss machining, so the guides were fairly easy to make. We only had c360 brass on hand though and I was just curious if it will hold up.
 
I "think" that it will become gummy and grab the valve stem (at least on the exhaust side.) The IN side "might" work out just fine.
Brass is very soft and gets sticky when it is heated -- you are already aware of that from machining it. Even with a coating, it's still not going to like the heat transferred to it.
I've never worked with that particular c360, so it's hard to comment with certainty how it will work.
You can always try it and let us know.


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C36000 Brass is copper, alloyed with lead and zinc. C360 is also known as Free-Cutting and Free-Machining brass because it has a 100% machinability rating, and is the standard against which all other copper alloys are compared. CDA 360 brass is also strong, with a strength similar to that of leaded steel.
 
Those exhaust valves hold a lot of heat…. I would be looking into the heat properties as well as durability. If I got head bolts changing color I bet I got hot valves as well. That would be the setback in my eyes.
 
Jims@woodpeck said:
Yes for sure. I work at a company wher I have access to Cnc and Swiss machining, so the guides were fairly easy to make. We only had c360 brass on hand though and I was just curious if it will hold up.
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Get you some wrought nickle aluminum bronze...

When I was building quite a few open flat heads years ago I tried quite a few materials to build my own guides (CNC machinist & programmer 30+ years in the aerospace/DOD industry) and nothing held up better.

Plating the stems with several different hard coatings made a vast improvement as well... ME92, std issue chrome, Casidium on Ti, etc etc.
 
Have just refreshed 11 Raptor lll engines and replaced all the guides in all but 3. Have used EZ-Bore tools and guides for years. Different on the 3 were that the exhaust was 2 part, with bottom part EZ-Bore guide and top part was stock BS guide size > .0375 OD and with EZ bore inside. Usually after 12-15 races the guides do wear. PS>> Vintage flatheads are picking up and lots of people are digging their engines out of the (back shed) and having fun. Most are racing them as Stock appearing. Just like wine, gets better with age. Yep. the 11 were all mine. Have a great New Year and May God Bless.
 
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