Reply With QuoteNo you do not need bronze guides! Why are you asking?
I think they are used for less ware and tare on the valves, but the regular cast guides last longer!
Do you need bronze guide to use with s/s valves??
No you do not need bronze guides! Why are you asking?
I think they are used for less ware and tare on the valves, but the regular cast guides last longer!
Stainless will work fine in the stock iron guide, BUT, stainless has a higher thermal expansion rate than iron and you should run slightly more valve-to-guild clearance than you would with the stock alloy valve, if you don't the valve will gall and stick in the guide and bad things will start to happen. Also if your heads are going on a boat cooled with the lake water you will need to add even more guide clearance. Usually the manufactures recomended max clearnce is a good minumum clearance for a boat with stainless valves, But I feel safer if I add another half thousant.
Bronze guides are great, and they last alot longer than iron, especaliy when running high lift cams. If your installing guides anyway, it only ads a few bucks to use bronze insted of iron.
One more tip, if you go with the bronze, be sure your machinest reams an extra .001 or so clearance about .250 up into the guide bore on the exhaust guide where it enters the exhaust port. This will help keep the valve from sticking if you ever get the exhaust temp too high and things start to expand a little more than usual.
Don't use bronze guides unless you use valves that are nitrided. The guide will last forever but it will wear the hell out of the valve. It's kinda like a piston and pin. The pin bore barely ever wears at all but the pin wears out. It's a wierd metallurgy thing. Just go with cast iron guides and run about .002" on the intake and .004" on the exhaust.
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