i have some spare ls valves i wanna clean up. would a shop grinder/ wire wheel work to clean them witout removing the metal or no? if not what would work to take off carbon

 

Wire wheel is fine to clean them up, just try to clean the face and not around the edge or you can get them out of round.

 

what if there is carbon on the stem/edge part

 

Carbon build up raises compression!!!!!!!

 

I would use a softer (hand) wire brush for the stem part. I don't think the carbon build up on the stem matters that much, Mind you, my reference for this is rebuilding heads for chevy 350ci motors, not honda motors . Im not sure if it is much more critical for that area to be clean on ohc motors. And correct me if wrong, but isn't it better to have carbon on the pistons than the valves to increase compression?

I hope i helped a bit!

 

Wire wheel all that garbage off, youe arent goin to hurt anything, carbon buildup on the stems and the backside of te valves decreases flow. Just get a good grip in the valve, its easy to shoot one across the room

 

Yeah, it slips out of hands VERY fast