Hello,
I have a '54 235 block with 848 head in my '54 Chevy. It was "professionally rebuilt" about 3000 miles ago, but I think a better description might be "bare mininum to get it out of shop". Anyway, I recently lost compression on cylinders 2 and 3. Removed head and found the copper Fel-pro head gasket was blown between cylinders 2 and 3. The engine has always smoked at idle, so I figured that I best inspect and replace the valve stem seals while the head is off. In this process, I noticed the exterior of some valve guides are cracked.
Is this common, and do they need to be replaced?
I have tried the search function and did not come up with much. I have been doing a lot of reading here lately trying to familiarize myself with the in's and out's of these engines.
Thanks!
