resurfacing 1.6 heads

[ilikevwdiesel]

anybody ever had one milled? I just had one cut about .006" to flatten it out. not sure if it's going to work, the Bentley says it's  a no no. This is one of the 1.6 engines with 11mm head bolts. Should I have just left it and tried ARP studs? Junked it?  Opinions please.

[53 willys]

mine was resurfaced....you just have to make sure you do a piston protrusion check...if they had to take to much then they will need to shave your pistons too.....

I'm glad I did mine...

but I would rather not have pistons shaved so if I had a 3 notch gasket I would probably NOT shave it since you are almost out of spec when at 3 notch anyway...

[ilikevwdiesel]

any idea how much was taken off the head? how many thousands?

[53 willys]

any idea how much was taken off the head? how many thousands?

I dont remember if they even told me??? my machine shop builds lots of race engines and they wanted to straighten it out so I said go ahead...I did not even consult Bentley..

BTW i'm no engine builder expert...I leave all that jazz to the machine shop... :oops:

[Luckypabst]

I just had mine done at Rimco after having it f'd up somewhere else. Rimco took .009" after the first guy shaved some off too for an estimated .015 - .020 total material removed.

Shaving the head does nothing for piston protrusion or gasket thickness. If anything you might want to check that there's enough valve recess after skimming the head but Bentley only gives a maximum dimension and not a minimum.

Chris

[ilikevwdiesel]

ok guys thanks...did the machine shops say anything about line boring the cam journals? and are you guys up and running these heads now?

[53 willys]

I just had mine done at Rimco after having it f'd up somewhere else. Rimco took .009" after the first guy shaved some off too for an estimated .015 - .020 total material removed.

Shaving the head does nothing for piston protrusion or gasket thickness. If anything you might want to check that there's enough valve recess after skimming the head but Bentley only gives a maximum dimension and not a minimum.

Chris

oops I nee more coffee...:oops: ...I was getting my block resurface and my head resurface mixed up...you are right the head resurface will have nothing to do with piston protrusion...

[burn_your_money]

Definitely have the cam journals checked.

You might need to shorten your valves... if that is even possible on these engines?

[ilikevwdiesel]

Definitely have the cam journals checked.

You might need to shorten your valves... if that is even possible on these engines?[/quote

the machinist did grind the valve stems a bit but I think it was just to remove any burr that might be there. I have the  cam in the head and the valves adjusted, it seems to turn ok. since the gasket face is flat now it shouldn't ? change when it's torqued onto the head deck JA?

[rallydiesel]

Why shorten the valves? The hydraulic lifters will take up the difference.

[ilikevwdiesel]

yeah it won't do anything to shorten the valves the seats are recessed into the head.

[rallydiesel]

The machinist should tell you if it needs a line bore. I had mine resurfaced and it didn't need a line bore. If the cam turns ok on the assembled head it should be ok.

[Quantum TD]

Why shorten the valves? The hydraulic lifters will take up the difference.

If you grind the valve seats and/or recut the valves, you are SUPPOSED to check the valve stem projection into the lifter bores, ESPECIALLY on hydraulic lifter heads. Otherwise, the lifter might not take up the difference. This is especially true when you're reusing old lifters that might not drain down before you start your engine.

Why do this? So the valves do no open too much and get clobbered by the pistons.

Smart machinists figured this out years ago, and now Bentley makes note of it in the new books for the TDI engines. I just had a TDI head reworked, and the machinist requested the cam and the lifters after he did the valve work so that he could determine how much to grind off the valve tips.

This makes sense for the mechanical lifter heads too, so that you don't have to go out an buy a ton of thin shims (assuming the labor on the valve work is cheaper).

If your head is going in for first time valve work, you should be able to get away with leaving the valve tips alone. But if you're not sure, is a very good idea to have you machinist check the projection.

Also, line bore is a very good idea. If your head was severely warped, you can be sure there is wear in the cam journals from the warpage. Have them check that too.

[ilikevwdiesel]

thanks quantum. The head was .006 warped on the gasket face, I would call that moderate? I have it all back together now with the valves adjusted, the cam spins like it should and it's flat so it should be ok. I am still a little concerned about piston to valve clearance. I am pretty sure this block needs a 3 notch gasket as the piston protrusion is pretty high. I will know for sure sometime tomorrow when that gets measured. Hopefully it will call for a 2 notch and I'll just use a 3 unless someone knows how to check that before installing the head?

[rallydiesel]

Good to know about the valve tips. So would the machinist need to cut new grooves for the keepers? I would think that you'd have to remove a lot of material from the bottom of the head to have the lifters completely compressed when the valves are closed. How much travel does a lifter need to be able to expand?