Can someone suggest a good seal for this motor. Doing a stock overhaul but want to use a positive seal rather than an umbrella.
Thanks in advance
Ford 2.3 marine Valve Seals
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Re: Ford 2.3 marine Valve Seals
Are the guides machined for seals?
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Re: Ford 2.3 marine Valve Seals
All of the seals i have ever seen are positive style not umbrella for the 2.3
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Re: Ford 2.3 marine Valve Seals
If the head is stock as in not machined for teflon seals or something then go straight to Ford and buy the stock seals. There are 2 colors for intake and exhaust I believe primarily for turbo use, I just use the exh. seals on both, figure they're designed for higher temps. The intake seals are the tan color that usually means Viton and either seal great. The aftermarket (FelPro) seals I've used before are junk.
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Re: Ford 2.3 marine Valve Seals
The seals on mine (87-ish I think?) were umbrella. I wanted to use a positive type.
You can buy a tool that chocks into a hand drill that will cut the factory guides for an aftermarket, positive seal. That's what I did to my 2.3 Ford. These can be used with about any cylinder head... not just the 2.3. It will also shorten the guide for more retainer/seal clearance. Very popular tool for guys building Vortec heads, as they don't have enough retainer/guide clearance with bigger cams.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cca-4726
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cca-4732
Well worth the investment, as it can be used many times on a variety of heads. Good to have in the toolbox. You can also take the head to a machine shop, and they will probably use the exact same tool on it.
Re: Ford 2.3 marine Valve Seals
I have the tool, I will cut them. I like the Sealed Power black banded seals