How To: Remove valves from a Ford flat head

[Alastair Thomas]

Removing the “C” clip
All the above is easy to say but there are many words written and YouTube videos made to describe the removal of the “C” clip.
The official method is to use a “pickle fork”. These are obtainable from various sources at a price. The pickle fork comprises a bar up to 2ft long with a spade end with a slot in it.
The idea is to wiggle the spade end through the coils of the valve spring and engage the slot in a slot provided at the lower end of the valveguide. It is indicated in the illustration above and, if you say to yourself, “I cannot make it out”, that is true to life as it is difficult to see. The pickle fork is then used to lever the valveguide down until the clip is revealed and remove it.
In my case I got four clips out this way, the valveguide failed to move in eight positions and the end came off the valveguide in another four positions.
This eventuality is meat and drink to the YouTube videos and learned articles and I realised that I was following in the footsteps of 90 years worth of mechanics tales.
Suggested solutions fell into two camps: the first was to remove the “C” clip by brute force. To do this you are expected to get in there with just the right size of Mole grip, clamp the tab on the “C” clip tightly and then drive the clip out by hitting the Mole grip with a hammer (up to 10 times according to one article). Though this system clearly works for them, I could not grip the tab firmly enough with any of my tools.
Another way was to make a special ”U” shaped tool with a hook on the end, hook it in the hole in the tab of the “C” clip and hit the tool with a hammer (again 10 times was claimed to be sufficient).
The second solution was to get in there with a cut off disk, cut the valve spring and then the valve stem. The valve can then be removed and the spring discarded. The valveguide can then be tapped down into the valve chamber and removed.
An alternative method of removing the “C” clip
I could not employ the brutal method of removing the “C” clip so considered the cutting method. I even bought a small air powered cut off tool as none of my angle grinders would get into the restricted space in the valve chest. However I could not bring myself to use it firstly because it is brutal and secondly I hate the idea of all the grinding dust in my engine. Instead I decided to push the valveguide down using the valve. This is a time consuming and fiddly method but, if the time saved in not having to remove the grinding dust from the engine, and the cost saved of not having to replace the valves and springs, then it becomes more attractive.
I started by making some stops to put under the valve head. I first turned a piece of brass 1” diameter by 1.5” long and bored a 7/16” hole through the middle. The result was then set up in the (homemade) vertical slide and a 7/16” slot milled down the side. Setting up was a bit tricky but I used the traditional point-in-the-chuck and a-rule-on-the-work method to ensure that everything was properly aligned.
Milling the slot