Exhaust Valve seals?

Okay, so i’ve been working on assembling my b18a1 head and have stumbled across an issue.
I put all my intake seals on and they went on with a breeze…on the other hand my exhaust seals wont. So I managed to mess a couple up and it’s because I’m pressing so hard trying to get them to be flush with the seat. DO the exhaust valves need to be flush with the valve seat?

Are they OEM and for the Exhaust (black springs)? They should not require a ton of pressure to get them on, so it might be that they are either incorrectly sized.

I’m sorry, I should of stated that. They are supertech valve seals which if I’m not mistaken, can be used with oem valves…I already ordered some more and compared them to the oem counterparts and they look the same aside from the color.
I’m just curious if they need to be flush or not. The intake side went together great but the exhaust has been stubborn.

I had to take mine to a shop to get seated in bro I had that same issue with Supertech lol

Did they tell you why it was doing that man? I’m just curious because I’m trying to get this shit together myself and trying to spend the least amount of money on things I can do myself. But, if this can’t be done by me and the machine shop can do it, it would be worth it

So here’s a picture of what it looks like before and after I try hard to push it down and I used the tool for installing them this time.


What do I do?

If you push one down using just your fingers, do you feel even a slight snap into position? After pressing with only your fingers, can you successfully remove them, using only your fingers?

Its been a little while, but I think I had similar issues with aftermarket valve seals, but with OEM I could actually feel them (faintly) snap into place, using only my fingers. It could very well be that yours are in place before reaching the spring seat, thats why I would suggest feeling out how easily you can remove them after applying minimal force. That should help determine how secure they are.

yes that is exactly is. now, I cant really feel them clicking into place, but I can tell when they wont go down any further. I used the valve seal installer tool and they come with a screw on piece that pilots the guide on straight and even. so what I did was guide it on by hand and then lightly tap the back of the tool with a hammer( I know they say to use a rubber mallet or not to be hitting on them at all) but I could feel it bottom out without deforming the seal itself. the only thing is that they don’t sit flush with the spring seats like you mentioned. I just went ahead and did that and installed the exhaust valves. I guess ill know if my car smokes and burns oil lol