The O-ring is supposed to be for oil control, I've never
understood how it could control very much oil being at the top
of the valve and buried in the retainer. The umbrella
seal is simply a deflector and the positive seals such
as the Perfect-Circle seals improperly installed, can do a
little to much controlling and can wipe the stem
of all it's lubrication. Positive seals in the newer engines are
carefully designed to leave a thin film on the stem, not wiping
it dry.
It seems to me that the Stovebolts didn't come with any other
oil control than the O-ring because there just wasn't a whole
heck of a lot of problem with oil pooling around the guide.
Back in the early 60's the machinists in the back room at the
auto parts store that I worked at, knurled a lot of the worn
cast in guides. To control the oil on a lot of the V8's
especially because of the angled head and higher rpm, oil
pooling was a problem, so they usually installed the Perfect-
Circle seals.
Get Jerry in here, he's the expert in this department, I'm sure
he's been thru this discussion a thousand times.
Denny G
Last edited by Denny Graham; 07/26/2014 1:24 PM.
