1.6L TD in a Dodge Caravan

[arb]

Still searching for a good head... The post I had asking if anyone had done business with Klaus with his $555 new hydro 12mm heads was removed. He did not want anyone outside his town looking for heads from him. Oh well. Partsplaceine will sell one for $44 more, with warranty.

I even asked Prothe what he wants for a complete head, but he must be too busy to answer.

Would like to drop the dine tomorrow so I'll be driving again asap.

[8v-of-fury]

smokey eddy had good luck with prothe's aaz head. If you would be doing your own porting, i wouldnt worry to much about casting marks as you could remove them yourself eh?

Would you consider a 1.6/1.9!? LOL

[arb]

smokey eddy had good luck with prothe's aaz head. If you would be doing your own porting, i wouldnt worry to much about casting marks as you could remove them yourself eh?

Would you consider a 1.6/1.9!? LOL

How true.. so the casting marks were the complaint with his heads ?

[8v-of-fury]

I believe so, that and many think because its coming from china.. that its going to be of lesser quality then a German head... Why? Chinese/Japanese engines take some abuse from there users as well dont they?

[arb]

I believe so, that and many think because its coming from china.. that its going to be of lesser quality then a German head... Why? Chinese/Japanese engines take some abuse from there users as well dont they?

My only concern with a China IDI head is what alloy they used for the prechambers. I can see them using just steel and them not lasting 30 years.

[8v-of-fury]

ahhh. there is a good point. Grab a few from a known good source and put them in lol.

I think after the cheap head, precups, and your time porting.. your still cheaper then a German head no? i really have no idea though.

[arb]

ahhh. there is a good point. Grab a few from a known good source and put them in lol.

I think after the cheap head, precups, and your time porting.. your still cheaper then a German head no? i really have no idea though.

I'm leaning toward German if I can find one with no crack ( I know they can run years with cracks between the valves, but why not start clean when my wife says to fix in once and for all ?) if not, I think I can trust the Topline heads cast in Brazil and the rest assembled in Florida. VW setup alot of manufacturing in Brazil.

[8v-of-fury]

I'd suggest prothe only as a last resort to get it back on the road for under 5 years.

Good luck with this (hopefully final) fix

[arb]

Just found I can get a complete turbo hydro head ( Topline ) for $587 shipping including from westendengineparts.com ..... looking like my best bet as there don't appear to be any used ones w/o cracks.

[BlueMule]

Arb, I have an "Alabama Cylinder Head" reman head on the BlueMule, it has 100 + k miles on it. It was reasonably priced and of good quality. The cracks between the valves were welded up, and the prechambers were replaced. Not all of the valves were replaced, but as long as the margins are good there would be no need to replace them. It was flat and again I had no problems at all. Anyway food for thought. I had to call and give them the casting # off of the head, as they do not list this particular head on the website.
https://www.alabamacylinderhead.com/productlist.php

[theman53]

If they are custom making these I wonder if they would do it in Ductile or some other iron

[arb]

Would you consider a 1.6/1.9!? LOL

I was so focused on finding a 1.6 head new, I missed this !!!  Yes, as long as I'm replacing the head, I should keep my option wide open :-) Time to dig deeper.

[8v-of-fury]

All of your 1.6 head stuff will swap over. Eddy bought a bare AAZ head off prothe and swapped over all the 1.6 stuff from the best of my knowledge anyhow. lol

It would be BEAST. Give you some extra ponies while your in there anyway eh?

[mattbondy]

Are you fairly close to the USA/Canada border?

You could try these guys: Heinz garage 205 Wyandotte Street East, Windsor, ON N9A 3H5‎ - (519) 256-8161‎
http://www.heinzgarage.net/about_us.html
They are very close to the Detroit/Windsor tunnel. Its a VW, Porsche, Audi, & Mercedes garage.

I bought a german head they had sitting around a few years back ($200, no cracks between the valves, intake and exhaust manifolds included). At the time they were just looking to get rid of all the old IDI parts they had sitting around.

Another local shop with a bunch of parts cars sitting around:
All Cars 2580 Manning Road, Tecumseh, ON N0R 1K0‎ - (519) 979-4721‎
These guys are further from the border (half an hour at the most). However, I wouldnt expect any great deals.

I dont know where my Jetta with the 'new' head ended up. However, I was beating the snot out of towards the end so the head is quite possibly little better than scrap.

[arb]

Are you fairly close to the USA/Canada border?

You could try these guys: Heinz garage 205 Wyandotte Street East, Windsor, ON N9A 3H5‎ - (519) 256-8161‎
http://www.heinzgarage.net/about_us.html
They are very close to the Detroit/Windsor tunnel. Its a VW, Porsche, Audi, & Mercedes garage.

I bought a german head they had sitting around a few years back ($200, no cracks between the valves, intake and exhaust manifolds included). At the time they were just looking to get rid of all the old IDI parts they had sitting around.

Another local shop with a bunch of parts cars sitting around:
All Cars 2580 Manning Road, Tecumseh, ON N0R 1K0‎ - (519) 979-4721‎
These guys are further from the border (half an hour at the most). However, I wouldnt expect any great deals.

I dont know where my Jetta with the 'new' head ended up. However, I was beating the snot out of towards the end so the head is quite possibly little better than scrap.

Thanks Matt - yes, I can almost see Windsor from our parking lot ;-)  I'll check them out... They don't have a used one, and they quoted me  $1,500 CAD for a new head...

I just pulled the trigger on a new AAZ head loaded from Prothe, including new 155 bar injectors with mercedes nozzles. Hopefully I'l have good luck like Smokey Eddie when he got a head from Pete. The goal is to get back on the road asap. After I pull the head this weekend, I'll pull the trans and see if I have a 200 or 210mm clutch. I know its at the edge of its service life, so this is a good time to swap it. Out the door with a HG and 12mm bolts, new cam baffle, head, 4 injectors, and shipping $596.20 USD.