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Adger Smith · 11-15-2008, 02:40 PM

Old school means he has experience. Yes, he taught someone that has produced success, but how much has this student modernized since being taught?
I'm old school(40 years of doing this), but it takes modern equipment & using new techniques to get high flow. Without flow bench testing how do you know what you are doing? (Besides just a valve job) Recently there have been changes in what is allowed in Stocker valve jobs. Getting the most from these rule changes is not something old school. As far as Dave Cooks comment about a vavle job not knowing the difference in a stone or cutter.. that is not exactly the case. For an avg Joe street car or bracket race cyl head, maybe. For a tricked out stocker/super stocker, no. First, it is real hard to consistantly cut any radius with a stone, like the tooling of the Sunnen VGS & Serdi. Second, when a stone cuts(no matter how sharpe it is) it leaves a minute rounded edge. Cutters leave a sharp edge. It has been proven that on most high flow valve jobs the sharp edges of the seats promote flow. This has been discussed on the Speed Talk forum by Darin Morgan & others (myself included) if you want to do a search.
There are some parts of building a Stocker that are old school, tried & true that don't change. The heads, cams & valve jobs are areas that constantly see changes & improvements. Why would I spend 10 to 15 hours a week on my flow bench trying to improve heads that I'm just freshening?(without porting) Yes, I'm hunting power-flow. You ask this: "can you get a good stocker valve job by hand or is it better with serdi because it's easier." As far as Quicker or easier with Serdi/VGS tooling, that is not the only reason they are used. I still have all my hard seat grinding equipment & use it from time to time. The reason it is not used is the Serdi/VGS is way better. All heads are different & respond to different angles/radius cuts. A high flow valve job on one brand/type head will not produce the same results on another brand/ type head. My advice is if you want to have a combo that qualifies well & stands a chance in a heads up run, go to someone that is using modern tools & techniques. Someone that their work has a proven track record on your combination.

11-15-2008, 02:40 PM	#4
Adger Smith VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Texarkana Ark/TX Posts: 2,446 Likes: 575 Liked 880 Times in 311 Posts	Re: stocker valve jobs Old school means he has experience. Yes, he taught someone that has produced success, but how much has this student modernized since being taught? I'm old school(40 years of doing this), but it takes modern equipment & using new techniques to get high flow. Without flow bench testing how do you know what you are doing? (Besides just a valve job) Recently there have been changes in what is allowed in Stocker valve jobs. Getting the most from these rule changes is not something old school. As far as Dave Cooks comment about a vavle job not knowing the difference in a stone or cutter.. that is not exactly the case. For an avg Joe street car or bracket race cyl head, maybe. For a tricked out stocker/super stocker, no. First, it is real hard to consistantly cut any radius with a stone, like the tooling of the Sunnen VGS & Serdi. Second, when a stone cuts(no matter how sharpe it is) it leaves a minute rounded edge. Cutters leave a sharp edge. It has been proven that on most high flow valve jobs the sharp edges of the seats promote flow. This has been discussed on the Speed Talk forum by Darin Morgan & others (myself included) if you want to do a search. There are some parts of building a Stocker that are old school, tried & true that don't change. The heads, cams & valve jobs are areas that constantly see changes & improvements. Why would I spend 10 to 15 hours a week on my flow bench trying to improve heads that I'm just freshening?(without porting) Yes, I'm hunting power-flow. You ask this: "can you get a good stocker valve job by hand or is it better with serdi because it's easier." As far as Quicker or easier with Serdi/VGS tooling, that is not the only reason they are used. I still have all my hard seat grinding equipment & use it from time to time. The reason it is not used is the Serdi/VGS is way better. All heads are different & respond to different angles/radius cuts. A high flow valve job on one brand/type head will not produce the same results on another brand/ type head. My advice is if you want to have a combo that qualifies well & stands a chance in a heads up run, go to someone that is using modern tools & techniques. Someone that their work has a proven track record on your combination. __________________ Adger Smith (Former SS)