whats up fellas, long time reader first time poster...so go easy on me. i could write a book but ill try to keep it short. a few years back i pulled my then newly rebuilt stroker from my wrecked '96 Z. a local machine shop did most of the machine work and part ordering for me. the only thing i personly bought was the cam (CCA-07-503-8) and a TB. he bought an eagle 383 rotating assembly, 1.6 rr, felpro gaskets, meling oil pump, arp bolts, etc. a local garage built it for me in exchange for some of my labor. it ran pretty good considering i kept the stock heads.
i knew before i pulled it out of the Z that it leaked oil. turns out the valve cover was bent and was not making a good seal on the head. upon a closer look at the heads there was some carnage to be found. i dont know much about heads but whatever was inside the valve spings (retainers or locks) was now in a million pieces scattered throughout the head. droped the oil pan, all kinds of metal just hangin out down there.
not too sure why this happened, or what to do. i refuse to take it back to the machine shop or the garage. you would think after spending >3k i wouldnt have any problems.
any thoughts on what i should do? money is tight, the trans am's stock lt1 rear main is leaking like a siv and wishing she had a stroker. should i just start over...what can be salvaged...ive been thinking of sending the heads to TEA or AI but i dont want to get ahead of myself

 

If you put together a stroker for $3k you are darn lucky your problems are so minor. Could have easily fragged so bad it ruined the block and damaged the heads.

The thing inside the springs that got eaten, was it a sheetmetal spring inside the valvespring? Also known as a damper. If the retainers and locks got eaten up enough to be in the oilpan valves would have dropped and all you would have left is an intake manifold.

 

nice...yea, i think you are right about the damper. im holding a few broken pieces in my hand right now. some are still inside the spring and i can move them around. i remember some plastic pieces mixed in with the metal too. so, i used junk parts on an extreamly vital part of the head, huh?
its pretty depressing to think about
if i only knew then what i know now
should i start over with my stock lt1 or try to sort out whats good and whats bad with my 383 paper weight?

 

At one point I had my heads worked on and the guy that put it together had used a spring seat that had a center part that when around the valve guide, kinda hard to explain without a pic... Anywho, the spring seat he used didnt allow the valve stem seal to fit properly all the way down the valve guide. When I started the car the retainers smashed every single stem seal into a million pieces. leaving little seal springs and plastic all over the place. pull a valve spring and see what you find out, might be something similar. If so fix the problem, replace the seals and do your best to flush the crap put of the oil pan. My car ran 4 very hard years after that so I dont think it was ever contaiminated from the fragments