Is this cylinder head useable ??

[Edd]

I have a cylinder head with enlarged inlet and exhaust valves that I'm thinking of fitting to the 1300 in my Sport, got it down from the loft today to have a look at it and there appears to be some pitting on the headgasket face :(

Is this head usable ? Or is the pitting nothing to worry about ?

Pics;

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr359/EDDRODGERS/28e918ae.jpg

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr359/EDDRODGERS/53999aac.jpg

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr359/EDDRODGERS/b9e282dd.jpg

Think a skim might sort some of it ?
But no idea that's why i posted it lol

Any advice ?

Edd.

[Benn]

I've seen alot worse used. I'd fit it. Give it a light sanding with a hand block/ bit of wood.

Dont do skimming.

[Paul]

skim it, dont bodge it

[Benn]

How is it bodging it? There's barely anything wrong with it, why does it need skimming?

[craig green]

here we go again...

my feeling is that with a block of wood, you could sand one area more than another & create a difference in the surface.

take it to Phil @ westside or even one of the older mechanics at Rowcliffes Edd, get a couple opinions. It's hard to tell from the photo's, but I agree I've seen/fitted worse. The block deck on my old 1600 8v was badly pitted.

[General Baxter]

baxter says its fine lol

[craig green]

Have to admit, I've looked again & it looks OK, pretty superficial & not signs of major HG failure or anything as such.

[AlexW]

Skim it IMO, Dont look too bad, but worth skimming it to remove the worst of it.

I presume your going to re-lap all the valves anyway so makes sence.

[General Baxter]

aha **** it, go buy a brand new one lmao

give it a quick sand, be fine

[Edd]

Skim it IMO, Dont look too bad, but worth skimming it to remove the worst of it.

I presume your going to re-lap all the valves anyway so makes sence.

No idea what relaping the valves is lol
Was hoping to clean the surface and bolt it down tbh

[stt]

that'll be fine just cleaned up!
pop over with craig one day and i'll show you how to relap the valves,
definitely worth replacing the valve stem seals if its been stood for any while

[Paul]

Cleaned up to me, is by being skimmed. We are talking less that a strip of selotape thickness.

[AlexW]

Good point, your talking like 1 thou off if that. Bugger all. Really you could call it facing, taking off so little all its doing is cleaning.

[andy_mk3]

I will always get a head skimmed for peace of mind. £40 for a skim, grind valves and pressure test. Worth it to me, as last time the pressure test found 4 very slightly bent inlet valves.

Can't beat a nice clean head though :)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/muckingfuppet/Astra%20Duo/98587ae0.jpg

[G-nova]

get it skimmed but instead of having the normal 1mm taken off get 2mm skimmed off. im not 100% sure if it will affect timing tho

[mowgli]

it looked fine to me. a light emery clothing & a good wipe down with some thinners or petrol will sort it. the bits you can see are from the old gasket. its not a turbo engine. skim too much & you'll alter the timing.

lapping in the valves will tell you if the valves are bent for less than a fiver

[Edd]

get it skimmed but instead of having the normal 1mm taken off get 2mm skimmed off. im not 100% sure if it will affect timing tho
1 or 2 mm :eek: :eek: :eek:

I think not.

[gazsnova]

2mm is well excessive....

what i would do is get a straight edge (i.e. a brand new metal ruler or length of steel square bar and lie it on the head and use a set of feeler gauges to see if you can get any to pass inbetween the head surface and the straight edge... best way to see if theres any sign of warping.

although this is more for suspect heads which have more than likely had a gasket failure.

[burgo]

get it skimmed but instead of having the normal 1mm taken off get 2mm skimmed off. im not 100% sure if it will affect timing tholmfao dream on lad.

i would recommend getting a skim, tell them you want the minimum to get it flat, ignore that pitting though its far from enough to worry about. then lap the valves in and job done, you know for a fact the head is 100% perfect and for the sake of £40-£50 maximum thats a small price to pay or piece of mind imo

[Paul]

lmfao dream on lad.

i would recommend getting a skim, tell them you want the minimum to get it flat, ignore that pitting though its far from enough to worry about. then lap the valves in and job done, you know for a fact the head is 100% perfect and for the sake of £40-£50 maximum thats a small price to pay or piece of mind imo

Amen

[garyc]

A 1300 head skimmed 2mm would run fine. I've heard so some that have had 2.3mm off before without any problems.

[Edd]

Eventually I want to run a charger on the engine so I don't want to change the c/r tho, think 1/2 mm will do that

Cheers for the replies everyone

[comptoncj]

Clean it up Edd it will be fine, you need to be more woried if the pitting was around where the gasket goes around the combustion area though.

[Alex J]

just put some silicone on it, wack it back on! skimming is a mithlol

[mowgli]

just put some silicone on it, wack it back on! skimming is a mithlol

alex. all proper head gaskets actually have a bead of silicone put on them at the factory....... when your mates do another one for you, ask them to show you.....

[phunkynova]

Just had my c16sei head skimmed for £10 but it would cost you a bit to bring it over here ...Czech Republic lol