That's a valve seal.

and it looks deformed, maybe needing replaced ?

Ok thanks, hoping for some input on the leak down numbers too.
And what are the best valve stem seals I can get.
Indy -1 heads, what other info do I need to provide?
Thanks

A lot of builders will run no seal on the exhaust , just the intake

Viton push on seals is what I would and due use, not the old race Teflon type: tsk:
You need to know the outer diameter of the valve guide boss and the valve stem size as well as make sure the valve retainer or valve keepers do NOT hit the seal, minimum of .060 clearance at max lift works good for me
If they hit the seal it ruins them so they don't keep oil out of the combustion chambers
I usually buy mine from Goodson Tool and Motor supply, I don't have any of the better ones in stock so it is time to make up an order and restock now. I'm almost positive that the 440-1 heads have 11/32valve stem size valves in them form Indy, measure yours to make sure they haven't been changed
The two in the picture are not the really good race ones, they are more for standard street motor rebuild

Ok thanks, now for the question that I hate to ask but remember first time working on a heads alone...
I have the tools but what I need to know is, the process and pitfalls to change the seals with the head on the engine.

1. Remove the valvetrain/rockers keeping orientations etc. in place and notate any measurements/settings
2. Roll the engine around to ensure that the cylinder I'm working on has both the intake and exhaust valves closed. (pressure off the springs)
3. Air up the cylinder to keep the valves from falling in.
4. Compress and remove the springs
5. Remove and replace the seals
6. Install springs/keepers
7. Install valvetrain/rockers etc
8. Adjust valves to cam card specs

Are there any pitfalls or tricks to this process?
I would think its just a matter of putting back the I take it off and then setting the lash...? Which I see as being .016 intake and .020 exhaust from reading my card.
EOIC Method...
Thanks in advance

You need to check the valve seal to the lowest part of the valve train, the valve keepers and or retainer without the spring under them
Make sure to have it fixed if it is less than .060 by removing the heads and have the seal area of the valve guides machine to get that valve seal clearance correct

Cab, this even for a motor that has been ran? Not debating just asking for my own knowledge..
I would hope 5 runs on a motor built by the Infamous Muscle Motors would be solid but I guess we never know.

By the way when removing and re-installing the valve train/ rockers... is the pressure relieved on the valve train simply released by backing off the rockers?
I had been watching some videos but not many seem to cover this detail. I mean the is never a point where all rockers are not under spring pressure.
I really want to conquer myself and learn this but I don't want to mess up any parts either.

Leak down on 6 and 8 finished tonight 92 psi on 8 aaaaand 34 on number 6!!
Strong Oder of fuel coming out of the exhaust pipe.
So what say you? Burnt valve, bent valve, I’m bummed sounds like a head off kind of inspection now something’s wrong in that hole
We repeated the leak down many times adjusting valves etc but sound like more than a seal…..

Sorry for your problem, fixing it will make the car faster as well as give you a chance to check the valve seal to valve train part clearances
I ended up learning to do all my own engine assembling and blueprinting due to not being able to find a real good shop in SO CA back in the late 1960s and 1970s that would do the exact same work on every job
I bought the mikes, inside, outside mike, depth mike, inch and foot lb. torque wrenches and went in half with a friend on a hot tank and later traded my half of it to him for a good Rimac 1000 Lb. valve spring tester.
I also ended up buying a Dakota sonic tester later due to having one block sonic tested that had .034 thick cylinder wall that failed on the engine dyno test that had been tested as good to go
Every one of us makes mistakes, you want to work with those folks and shops that don't make many mistakes, especially on customers parts

10/4 and thanks for the sage advice.
I'm getting a borescope to take a look and then plan an attack.
I'll chime back in once I have info
Thanks

34% is pretty much a a sign you need to dig deeper. While a borescope sounds like a good idea, it is entirely likely you not see anything with it. Unless is a blaringly obvious problem like a chunk of valve missing, which you may not even be able to see. I woudl start by yanking that head off. Could be any number of things but its not going to be fixed with a borescope.

What I find odd is it had decent compression. You would think with that much leak down the compression would of been lower.

Can be LOTS of reasons foe the leakdown number. In this case it seems he can hear it out the exhaust side when no other cylinder is doing it. Could be a bad seat or valve issue could be a piece of carbon or some other foreign object is causing it. He seems concerned that is is hurt so best way to find out at this point is either remove the head or send it. FWIW I have seen stuff leakdown 30%+ and run pretty well especially when thats leaking out the exhast side. We dont generally leak stuff down that often, only when we find an issue with pumping being way down or we have lost vaccum. AS stated before sometimes leakdowns can be misleading.

I agree on what you are saying. Reading from the beginning I suspect this motor has a history and has been hurt.

Thanks for all the input, I couldn’t hear it as much as smell it extremely well. The sound kind of transferred.
But definitely not there on the other cylinders like that.
Yeah I was puzzled at the compression compared to the leak down…
I think the borescope was just because I have it take a look but may may not prove anything to me I know.
Problem is it runs good but it says what it says.

Now could there be something holding a valve open that stays in the way even bumping it over while we did the leak down?
Makes me wanna do u pull and see what it shows after.. unless you all say don’t bother and pull the head…

Well after a bunch of wrenching and investigation I have found the issue, a surprise and hopefully fixed her up.
Didn’t want to leave ya’ll hanging.
what we found. #6 hole had a stuck ring.
Got the ring out and checked the clearance..

It didn't hurt anything so ordered new rings and went to re- ring the hole.
Piston card that came with the motor said 4.350 quickly found out I have a 4.500
So I have a 540 inch motor….
Anyway ordered another set of correct rings
got it back together last week and we ran it to break that hole in.
Seemed to be all good.
Leak down was right up there now with the others

So we Tore it back apart to do a re torque on the head.

Should have it back and all buttoned up this week.

I do have a mega block question….temp seemed to set at 205 and up and down from 205 to 218
Normal??

Thanks for all of the help

The block may be a little thin on the cylinder walls, it may need a better cooling system also.
the only way to find out is sonic test the block or change the cooling system
I like to see 140 F coming out of the staging lines and around 160 to 180 F on the starting line, 210 to 230 F on the return road in the 1/4 mile
My car does not have a regular radiator, it has two small oil coolers instead with the coolant running through them and it runs on E85 also with a stock 400 block so keep that in mind when comparing your deal to any other deal

Big "depends" here on the temp. A bb Mopar has siamese exh ports so it needs good cooling in that area, especially with nitrous.
You have a Megablock, shouldnt move around too much hot to cold, IF the carb works well, you should stage at 100* . That would require towing up . Like i said, the carb must be tuned for this temp so dont go try it and say it didnt work...LOL
Like i said this is for a decent amount of nitrous use on a BB mopar....i dont want to argue it, just saying what i have been instructed to do by a very reputable builder and what has worked for me. I have a Dale Cubic carb and it goes on the brake no problem, usually stage at 90 to 110*