Cam Cover Gaskets were leaking on my '85 XJ6, so I replaced them and noticed the most forward valve guide on the (American) driver side is cracked. Is this a "must repair"? Who knows how long it's been like that...

BTW, anyone have an opinion on sandblasting and powder coating the covers?

 

It depends on how bad it is. Is it just the top lip? Sounds like you've got the same situation I did. The tappet guide is pressed into the cylinder head and can loosen up and make contact with the cam lobe taking chunks out of it. If you have good compression and the valve is still working ok you should be able to get away with continuing to use it. The more worrying problem is should it continue to make contact there's a chance a chunk of metal will eventually find its way into the timing chain and cause a bad noise, to say the least. I would install the tappet stakedown kit and check your compression/valve operation and roll with that. Upload pictures of it if you can. Search under my name for the tappet stakedown thread I started and you'll see pitcures of what I'm talking about. The kit is cheap and relatively easy to install.

 

Cam lobe seems smooth, although a dull brown instead of shiny. Another lobe on that side is like that, too. Here's a pic.

 

Must repair?

There are different approaches to this sort of thing. For me it would be choice between installing a totally rebuilt cyinder head (and putting everything related to the top end behind me) or installing a stake-down kit and running that way for as long as you can. If more problems develop the situation can be re-evaluated. With a stake-down kit you may well be able to soldier on for quite some time.




If it feels good, do it :-)

Cheers
DD

 

That is not a valve guide. The broken part is called a 'tappet guide'.

I have repaired heads with a replacement guide and a 'tappet hold down kit'

A NEW guide will be oversized and won't fit without machine work.
A good used guide can be tapped into place and then the holdown kit installed.

As VWTECHNICIAN and DOUG stated it might be OK.

If the top edges are chipped away and the guide has no split then it probably will work for a long time with just a holdown kit.

bob gauff