Burned valve advice
 

Just FYI this is also posted on AstroSafari - thought I'd try this forum too.

I just pulled the head off my 98 Astro AWD and found that 1. the exhaust valve is damaged and will not seat and 2. the piston is (strangely) slightly scored from where the broken valve must have been hitting it. In spite of this slight valve/piston damage, all the car had before this work was a very rough idle and no compression in the cylinder. At higher RPM it actually ran OK.




My question is this: If I use a dremel attachment to polish the scoring in the piston (pictured in the attachment) flat and replace the head, should I be good to go?

owie!
 

just smooth it and you should be ok like you mentioned .