Take a quick look at these heads...(many pix)

CaifanSC

SCCoA Member
Im tearing down this engine that im rebuilding to slap into my 89. Just a quick background on that..the engine came out of a BABIED car that had aprox. 115k miles. At first glance you can tell that the heads look pretty clean, the valve cover gaskets are almost new (not even squished!) but never the less i was going to send them to the machine shop. When i got the valve cover out the heads look EXTREMELY clean inside. My question is...do you guys think that i should STILL spend the money to get the heads machined? I mean, look at the pictures...they look way too clean. Im guessing that the owner of the vehicle from which this motor came from had the head gaskets changed and machined the heads b/c there is evidence of relatively new timing cover gasket, exhaust manifold gaskets, and rather clean RTV sealant on the upper manifold. The drivers side head still has a bar code sticker attached to it...im not sure if its from factory or the machine shop, and the O2 sensor seems to be new too. Let me know what you guys think, b/c if i dont send the heads to the shop im going to order me some roller rockers.
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CaifanSC said:
Im tearing down this engine that im rebuilding to slap into my 89. Just a quick background on that..the engine came out of a BABIED car that had aprox. 115k miles. At first glance you can tell that the heads look pretty clean, the valve cover gaskets are almost new (not even squished!) but never the less i was going to send them to the machine shop. When i got the valve cover out the heads look EXTREMELY clean inside. My question is...do you guys think that i should STILL spend the money to get the heads machined? I mean, look at the pictures...they look way too clean. Im guessing that the owner of the vehicle from which this motor came from had the head gaskets changed and machined the heads b/c there is evidence of relatively new timing cover gasket, exhaust manifold gaskets, and rather clean RTV sealant on the upper manifold. The drivers side head still has a bar code sticker attached to it...im not sure if its from factory or the machine shop, and the O2 sensor seems to be new too. Let me know what you guys think, b/c if i dont send the heads to the shop im going to order me some roller rockers.

From the pictures I would say the headgaskets have been done before. Stock motors didn't use gaskets for the exhaust manifold. When the heads where taken off, I haven't a clue.
 
Does it look like the oil pan has been off? If so it may have new bearings also. I'd just leave it alone. There is no reason to rebuild it.
 
Well dave, i do recall also seeing relatively fresh sealant on the oil pan too. Nevertheless, the person I acquired the engine from said that the car was knocking, but he also mentioned that it might have been b/c of overheating. The car was taken to a shop for overheating, but typical story..the people at the shop changed the radiator, thermostat, Intercooler (why? i mean why?), and I think the fan/shroud...but never bothered with the temp sensor. When the guy drove it out of the shop and it overheated again, he said that the engine was knocking. When it was taken back to the shop, there was a flash flood and the insurance junked the car. It is possible that the lower end is fine or even rebuilt...but i dont think its worth the risk of me taking MY engine out, slapping this one in and have it knock. i think Im at least gonna take it appart to check things.
So dave, do u think that the heads look fine? Or should i take them to the shop...they look way out of place with the rest of the engine so the guy probably took them to the machine shop...which means they have new seals. the mounting surfaces are nice, clean and flat. Thats all i really was going to do if I were to send them.
 
At least take them to get checked for warpage and for cracks. Just because she looks good, doesn't mean she hasn't got something wrong with her. Better to check it now than it is to tear it down agian later.
 
Ya, with that kind of history, better to just check everything out. Sure the heads have been redone, but if there is a crack in one that they missed then that might be the cause of the overheating. Who knows.

If they said it had a knock in it then you need to pull the pan and check the bearings. Also check the oil pump for excessive wear on the timing cover.

:/
 
just my 0.02, but, if the motor is already THIS broken down, $115 worth of a gasket set and $135 worth of head studs from ARP seems like decent insurance that the head gaskets will be BRAND NEW for you. Besides, it was overheating and knocking, and god-forbid, some-OTHER GUY worked on this car. Lord only knows what's been done to it.

also, it's a lot easier to do this job on the engine stand than in the engine bay.

but, again, just my 0.02.

not that it's impossible to do a head job with the engine in the bay. I've done 3 of them now, and i'll be doing more in the future. My right foot says so!


btw, I was just looking over the pic's again. on that last one, is that middle valve spring flattened or is it just a bad pic? I got a set of NEW valve springs from SBI (through a local machine shop) for $34 bucks.
 
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If I had a motor with a history of overheating and aluminum heads, no matter how pretty it looks ( and yours is pretty) I would get them surfaced.
 
thanx for the replies fellows....i think i will just not worry about it and follow as I had planned in the beginning(taking everything to the machine shop). Im about 90% sure that this thing has pretty new head gaskets too...but i've already allocated for a complete engine gasket set (and arp head studs)...so i'll slap in the new ones just for reassurance. Per XR7 Dave's suggestion i slapped out the oil pan and tried to check things. I noticed that there are a few weird markings in the crank that Im not sure supposed to be there. The cylinders still have some of the cross-hatch markings but not 100% even, and the cam i believe needs to be polished...so i didnt even bother checking the bearings....undoubtedly the lower end needs to be taken appart. Its gonna get a new better flowing melling oil pump, total seal piston rings, and clevite bearings all around (main, rod, cam). I took some pix to show but the floppy i saved them to decided to crap out and now my laptop cant read it.

Last question about the heads....since im taking the block to get worked on (hot tanked, resurfaced, freeze plugs, etc), crank and cam to get polished, and the heads....what is the least i need to do to these heads? If I can cut the costs a bit it would be great. I mean he heads are already clean, surfaces are straight...maybe just checked for cracks and warpage? Or would the difference in cost will be too little...and i should just bite the bullet and get the whole work done to the heads?

Mike, as far as that spring goes...its just the reflection of the light on the spring...it does look flattened on the pic, but its ok.
 
Cool. ;)

Sorry, I've not yet paid for a head job. Can't give an estimate.
I just use 400 grit sand paper. Over and over and over and over again.
 
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