cylinder head

luna_s

Having trouble with it now,
apart from people not getting in touch about modifying it, thorney has told that the head would need new valve guides and stuff before its exchanged for a modded head,
so its 500 quid for an exchanged unit + 500 quid to get it modified, seems silly money to me for 5bhp, not sure what to do now unless someones got a straight head for sale for about 50p
:razz:

JohnnyN

Jon Thorne uses the same engineers as Courtenay for the head work. I had to have my inlet guides replaced when I had my head modified. That alone was £160 +VAT on top of the normal head modification price.

vocky

with 97k on the clock it probably could do with some guides dunno..

depends if there's any wear really notsure.gif

you could port the head yourself, it's not difficult, just takes about 1 hour per port - 16 hours

luna_s

I lack the skills or tools to do it tho 🙁
Probably all go wrong if i do it :razz: !!!

big setback to the project this, as usual costs are spiralling, cars who'd ave em?

vocky

the uk ported heads I've seen are basically a quick clean up, so very easy to do, just buy a dremel and give it a clean up 🙂

I ported mine to the GM cnc spec, which is a bit OTT really :lol:

all you need to do is remove the sharp edges and reprofile the throat area

I have many pics of my 2.2 head when I ported it, so can show you which parts to do and where to leave well alone

got to be better than paying £500 for someone else to do it cheers..

luna_s

you might have a point, what tools do i need ?
i was more bothered about 3 angle valve seats, heard those are effective,
ive ported mini heads in the past (david vizard stuff) but that was mini heads!
show me the pics!!

vocky

3 angle valve seats are a nice touch, but you might gain 1bhp if you're lucky from them.

I started porting heads on the ford crossflow, believe me porting alloy is sooo much easier - too easy really :lol:

this shows a before and after, notice the throat has been opened up by 3mm

you can see the scribed gasket size on the right hand exhaust port, I opened them up to port match

this is a good pic - it shows where the alloy has been removed prior to cleaning up the sides

this shows the throat area before cleaning up

vocky

inlet

exhaust

luna_s

wow, cheers vocky, you know i think i will give this a go,
nice pics,
so do i just need some carbide burrs and a dremel,?
think ill need a spring compressor too, - which one do i need ? (again ive only got a a-series small head one)
more i think about it, these heads are designed at factory using computer technology with advanced casting techniques, so like you said - a little opening up and cleaning and its fine, not like the old cast head days !!!
hopefully ill get a price for the exchange head today

vocky

modern heads are better shaped, just the edges are mass-produced and need a little smoothing 😃

'carbide burrs and a dremel'....... are ideal

'spring compressor'....... I bought one a few years ago when I ported my cossie head

similar to this one, but better quality :lol:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RDG-10-VALVE-SPRING-COMPRESSOR-engine-rebuild-etc_W0QQitemZ130070516108QQihZ003QQcategoryZ30922QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

vocky

before

after

vocky

this is where the alloy is removed on the inlet, try not to open the inlet anymore - it's a good size already

vocky

the valves you should get are GM Racing

luna_s

apparently vauxhall do a full exchange head, i'm just waiting for the price, else i'll get a bare head and get some of those valves,
where did you get them from again? - (and cost)
one thing for sure, itll give me something to do indoors while the weathers like this!!!
cheers for the help, 10x better than the stuff on that other forum :razz:

vocky

have you checked to see if the valve stems are actually worn, they may be fine 🙂

the valves are £10 each imported from the states or £15 each in the uk

I'm not sure whether sivalves make standard size valves, but I'm sure they could dunno..

not worth the extra cost of replacing the valve seats for the little extra a +1mm valve gives, so go for a standard size valve cheers..

I purchased direct from sivalves 😃

http://www.sivalves.com/ocdomestic_valvesps_chev.html

vocky

might be worth giving Benny a PM if you want a vx recon head, he might be able to get it cheaper dunno..

luna_s

i've a friend, who has a friend whos a fitter at a vauxhall dealers 🙂
should get some costs this afternoon,
cheers for the info
All else fails theres the option of getting mine reconditioned somewhere - get new guides etc, and go for those nice valves then port mine

luna_s

500 + vat it seems 🙁
also found out lifters are 270 quid!
(will i get away using my old ones even tho ive not kept them in order ?)

rockers 110 quid for the 16!

be cheaper to get a long engine at this rate!!!

vocky

luna_s said:
500 + vat it seems 🙁
also found out lifters are 270 quid!
(will i get away using my old ones even tho ive not kept them in order ?)

rockers 110 quid for the 16!

be cheaper to get a long engine at this rate!!!

all you need to do with the lifters is take them apart and drain the oil

if you are getting your cams reprofiled then the rockers will be fine
even if you're not, as they're roller, wear should be low

you are certainly at the low point of your rebuild, costs going up and car going nowhere :cry:

you could still go the other route and pick up a complete second hand engine and just fit a new chain kit to it dunno..

luna_s

yeah i know,
good job im only pricing everything at the mo, didnt realise little bits would cost so much, c20xe lifters and stuff are roughly 20 quid for 8, how they came up with those crazy figures is beyond me....
talking of which i'm really thinking of fitting a c20xe, altho i think the engine is heavier (cast iron block) and the exhaust is on the wrong side, driveshafts should be more or less easy to do too, c20xe performance parts are peanuts in comparison.....

anyway, found all my lifters and followers, they just have shiny bits where they have been working, lifters dont look too worn (just shiny tops) and the followers just have shiny bits on the pads and roller, might get away with it altho i realllly didn't want to cut corners - its looking more likely that im going to have to 🙁