unusable head

[evil tsi]

i took the cams out of my head the other day and noticed the cam caps and cams have grind marks on them and there is chunks missing from the caps. i took it to the machine shop today and was informed that the only way to salvage it was to get another set of caps and then have the caps line honed. i know for a fact that the head needs new guides, with a possibilty of some bent valves. would my best bet be to go to a junkyard and get a head? then have it redone at the machine shop? or just go to advance or autozone and get a remanufactured head?

 

[Dsmkauai]

It really depends on your plans for the car. In my opinion your best bet is to contact a vendor on here and look into one of there heads. In the long run you may spend less and have a good head done by people who know our cars. They may even take your core for some cash off your new purchase.

 

[evil tsi]

i was just going to put stiffer springs and do some mild port work to it just because my motor is a 2.3l and i only plan on running it to 7500rpm or so. i doubt that anywhere will take my head as a core because it is pretty bad. i also dont want to spend a 1k plus on a head that i dont really need.

 

[eeeewidner]

The cylinder heads you would find at Autozone or any other franchise parts store are not that great of quality. I purchased one for 550 a couple of years ago and all the exhaust valve seals started leaking pretty heavy after 4k miles. They would not warranty it out because it needed to be checked out by the vendor of the head while on the car. Needless to say I was in Illinois then and the place they got the head from was in Alabama. It's a big pita to deal with. Finding a vendor on here is your best option. Jon at DSMGraveyard does good cylinder head work and is reasonable.

 

[Dsmkauai]

The main reason I say that is because they might be able to do something with it. Your best bet is to check our classified ads, you may be able to score a close to stock head for good deal. I'll give you some advice, when things go wrong plan on spending alittle more on parts. Not only to keep your car running but to plan for the future. I know Dsmer's once you feel the boost you don't wanna stop till you've got a sick setup . Might as well do alittle extra for future upgrades.

 

[evil tsi]

thanks for the great advice once again guys, if anyone has a cheap 6 bolt head that needs gone through p.m. me