The nightmare just got worse. The guy stripping my mk 7 head just phoned , it seems that the person who did work in the past has overcut the valve seats , resulting in having to grind the shims down to almost paper thickness to get any sort of clearance . Anyone got a head for sale ?
Why not put in new hardened valve seats in this head?
Hi Lovell , waiting for an estimate for seats, guides and valves , to see if it is cost effective .
You can fit tappet buckets from the x300 engine which are lighter and give quite a bit of extra clearance. I had to do this. A set of 6 of these buckets cost me about 90 quid. Fatter tappet shims might be needed at around 6 quid a throw.
Might be worth considering if there’s not much else wrong with the head, ie. the seats will clean up and the guides are ok.
If you do go for another head, remember that the cars with an electric tacho drive, (post about 1960), will give you an extra problem with the drive, as yours is mechanical, and is taken off the exhaust camshaft, not the inlet.
I suspect that you head has been the subject of a common bodge, the valve seats have been recut too deep, and the valve ends and shims have been ground down in a half arsed attempt to make things work. This always ends in tears.
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Your last paragraph is spot on ! I will heed your advice re the other stuff . But if I could buy a GOOD head all ready to go , I think I would !
Take the head to chessman engineering on your way to the trimmers.
Chesman do a lot of work for the trade and are good ‘old school’ tradesmen
Already in the hands of an engineer Phil. What other heads would fit my engine , I wonder ?
Heads from mk2 s and stypes will fit. You need to be very careful with refurbishment not too many know how or have access to the proper facilities to remove and install seats and guides
With best regards
Philip Dobson
If your head is otherwise good, I would probably prefer this to another head, (IF you have matching engine number) as far as I know the engine number is stamped prominently in the head upper valley, so that is worth $omething
almost every head of that age I see has recessed valve seats, either from previous recuts, and/or plain wear, so therefore new seats is a very good thing, if expensive, springs are cheap
be very careful any head you buy does not have recessed seats
requires a close visual inspection
Thanks for that guys . The shop that has it , specialises in heads , so no worries there , only the cost !!! This one has no cracks or corrosion , so probably worth sticking to .
Same here, would go with the one you have if no welding is required. Paul.
Not matching numbers , but I’ll stick with it anyway
Bear in mind that valve seats are heat shrunk in place.
Watch this video at time marker 4:12 and you can see the factory guy putting them in.
Absolutely priceless , Rob . Car plants then and now , what a difference ! Not much unemployment then ! My original mk 2, came off the line that year , I might have seen it !