My experience of changing engine valve seals on a 2.2/2.5 eight valve in the engine compartment of an 1985 Charger turbo.
I had never done this before and was definitely apprehensive of the pitfalls that could be involved. Fortunately I had built an engine run stand and was able to practice changing seals on an engine where I could easily see and get at everything involved. The purpose of this article is to pass on the things I learned so that someone who is thinking about doing this can prepare for possible problems.
TOOLS
I used two valve spring compressing tools. A Harbor Freight Maddox Overhead Valve Spring Compressor and a Sealy Brand 2 hook style compressor that you can find on Ebay, which must be modified to clear the fuel pressure regulator. It is important to make sure the knurled barrel nuts on this tool are secure. I had one fall off, disassembling the tool during the procedure. I used a nylok nut on it to prevent further occurence.
I also had a telescoping magnet, the design of which allows the magnet to spin when trying to replace a valve lock. I taped the magnet to the shaft to prevent this. I also had a large flat blade screwdriver, needle nose, a forceps and especially helpful i wore a headlamp to be able to see the work area. (I'm old, lol )
Because my method requires cam removal and replacement I remove the oil shield from over #1 cylinder. The procedure I use requires having the cam in place to remove the spring assembly and taking the cam back out to install the spring. You could probably use the 2 hook tool if you have a friend to hold the spring compressed while you put in the lock. I had to use my method.
I used the rope method of holding the valves in place when changing the seals. I bought 10 feet of hardware store rope approximately 3/8 inch. In the end 12 feet would have been better for the 782 head chamber. I used a long phillips head to adjust the rope under the valve head by lowering the piston a bit and the stuffing the rope under the valve i was working on. This kept the valve movement up and down at a minimum. The reason this is important is that you need as much valve stem as possible sticking up to insert the valve locks.
The procedure went like this, with the cam in place I used the two hook to remove all of the roller rockers. I kept all parts in order and did only one valve at a time to avoid mixing parts. Caution, if you drop something important in an l-body engine bay you may not find it again, (lol). Further preventive measures are to use paper shop rags to plug all of the cylinder head drains in the front of the head and in the gallery between the springs and the cam journal wall. These passages go to the oil pan and so will small parts you lose in there. I plugged the distributor hole as well. The spark plugs will be out for ease of rotating the crank, another opening that bears watching.
Next I used the 2 hook to compress #1 exhaust spring and while holding the spring fully compressed I used the magnet to remove the locks. I found that some times I had to use a 3/8 extention to tap the retainer to pop the locks out. I then removed the spring and retainer and locks to a safe place. Now I removed the cam for installing the spring assembly IMPORTANT! Wipe the oil from the valve stem and use brake clean to remove oil from the locks and spring parts. The reason for this is the oil viscosity works with the magnet to flip the valve lock all over the tip of the magnet, very frustrating. When clean of oil things go more smoothly.
At this point I used and ordinary pliers to wiggle the old seal off its seat on the head. I then put some grease in the opening of the new seal to ease installation. I used a 3/8ths deep socket and a ball pean hammer to gently tap the seal into place. The seals I used are the blue Viton ones we can get from our supporting business's.
Now I placed the spring and retainer into the Maddox tool. Place the longest finger of the tool as far as you can on the last coil. When you get the shorter finger onto the coil spin the spring around as far as you can. This gets the maximum amount of coil bind giving the best amount of space to insert the locks. Now turn the star wheel and compress the spring down to coil bind to get every bit of clearance you can for replacing the locks. When the locks are in place on the valve stem lift the tool/spring assembly to seat the locks and hold them in place while you turn the star wheel and release the spring tension. The final step is to rap the top of the valve stem to ensure proper seating of the locks. To do this I used two ball pean hammers, a tall one on top of the valve stem to avoid damaging the cam journals.
Do all 8 valves.
Remember to remove all of the shop towel plugs from the drains. Be sure not to miss any as they could end up plugging the oil filter.
I chipped one lock and was able to get replacements from O'Reilly at a very reasonable price excluding the $11.00 shipping from detroit.
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10's AGAIN '07, '08, '09 
Originally Posted by "Top Fuel" Bender
