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Parts place head?
by
somepunk22
on 25 Feb, 2009 18:09
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Anyone purchase a remanufactured head from here? I've been searching for a straight 1.6 mech head for a little while with no luck. Any reviews? Thanks.
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#1
by
dillenger1
on 25 Feb, 2009 18:43
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they are a good company.
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#2
by
Luckypabst
on 25 Feb, 2009 18:44
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I'll say that their customer service is absolutely lousy. I had cash in hand to buy a head and could never get a straight answer about what they had and what they sold, between 4 phone calls. That was the last straw for me and I'll never buy anything from them again.
It was nice when I got to tell the head dude that they lost a $750 sale, and why they lost it. The $150 core charge for a new head really rubbed me the wrong way too...
Rimco did wonders on my head, surfacing it for $55 (assuming the rest of the head is still serviceable).
Chris
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#3
by
Rabbit TD
on 25 Feb, 2009 18:48
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Yes I just bought one for my 1.6 T/D I built for my 81 Rabbit. I bought the complete Master rebuild kit, pistons, head, the whole works. I've bought things from them for about 4 years now and I am very happy with everything I've ever got from them and they are very helpful people. This is my second Master kit from them actually. The name of the company that made this head is one called Top-Line and I've read that others have used them with no problems. Just don't get the hydraulic lifter version, too many problems. This is a 12 m/m head also. Get yourself some ARP headstuds when you put it together and save yourself a lot of problems down the road. They screw in the block a lot deeper which is a problem on the 11 m/m non-stretch headbolts and the 12 m/m factory bolts are the stretch type and a total pain in the ass. The ARP's work like a charm and the torquing procedure is real smooth with them, no creaking and jerking making you wonder if you cracked something or pulled a thread and most of all keep the head sealed longer.
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#4
by
foxracer1
on 25 Feb, 2009 19:28
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I know someone directly that worked there. In the past year they have changed ownership. (Jack sold the business to his daughter) And during all the changes they have been buying cheap chinese parts yet still selling them for the same price.
I have had nothing but bad luck with them. I ordered cv boot kits and it took forever to get them.
The rebuilt pumps just consisted of checking for leaks and cleaning them up a little.
I would beware of them. They are ok for some things like parking brake cables and such but leave it at that.
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#5
by
fatmobile
on 25 Feb, 2009 21:19
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Topline is a good head,..
if that's what they are still selling.
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#6
by
somepunk22
on 26 Feb, 2009 05:28
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So if not parts place, then where? Thanks.
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#7
by
myke_w
on 26 Feb, 2009 05:59
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I could hook you up with a solid rebuild, pm me.
Parts Place in my opinion has always been way overpriced and very rude.
I didn't realize they are now selling Chinese junk too, sad...
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#8
by
Luckypabst
on 26 Feb, 2009 06:46
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Their "all-encompassing" brake kits are all Chinese. It'd be nice if they'd put in the catalog the same note that's included in the kit, stating something to the effect of "What's this?! Chinese brake parts? Don't worry, Jack uses these on his kids cars and they're great, pay no mind to the ever increasing wheel bearing clearance and the brake shoes that require custom bending to fit..." Or something like that. I would have liked to know this before laying out $50 to ship rubbish.
Their parking brake cable for the Caddy was longer than the one that hadn't broke yet, that was nearly 30 years old and stretched.
Their rebuilt injector pumps are very nice in my opinion but that was 2+ years ago and just bumped to a rebuilder, not done in-house. It would have been nice of them though to give a courtesy call when the part number didn't match the application...
I just went through a big mess to find a new (Topline) head. Parts Place seems to be the only place that has one and Topline themselves claim no availability until April.
I recommend you ship your head to Rimco if it's not FUBAR.
Chris
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#9
by
BioDieselVW
on 26 Feb, 2009 07:17
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I have a topline head. Its been good so far no problems and I havent melted it yet
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#10
by
arb
on 26 Feb, 2009 08:28
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Yes, they have gone way down hill of late. 16 years ago, they had real diesel gugu's working and enjoying their time there.. Today, down load their latest "catalog" from their web site. Then call them for a wide variety of parts... you'll get rude or clueless guys on the line who after you get them to the right page of their catalog, will say, "Oh that, we don't carry THAT." to which you ask, when was the last time you carried it... your answer - YEARS ago. I could not get a single part from them this past 6 months for my project - including something as basic as a 2 notch HG and head bolts / studs... the conversation about studs was equally amusing.
So, the followup question - I got what I needed from S & G. They have been around a long time. I don't know if they do mail-order, but here's their site.
http://www.sgparts.com/
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#11
by
somepunk22
on 26 Feb, 2009 10:33
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The head I have now is a stage 3 head I purchased from Dave at passenger. Never fit from the start since it was a 11mm stud head and I have 12mm. I drilled it out and installed with arp studs 2 times. Always leaked coolant out the back, and trashed the cam. I've purchased a couple other used heads, but I haven't found one close to the flatness spec yet. Dave said I can send the $1k head back to him to inspect it, but it took many many months to get in the first place and I don't want to deal with him anymore. I don't think I want to bother rebuilding it. Well... we will see once I pull it off again and have it checked out. So now I'm tired of head problems, and just want new or proven flat head so I can drive my diesel!
Mike, do you have heads you can rebuild in stock? PM me if you have any ideas. Thanks.
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#12
by
myke_w
on 26 Feb, 2009 10:54
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yes I think I do have a nice one back there I could rebuild. I generally like to get a usable core back so I can offer the next guy the same service but I might be able to part with one outright.
I find it strange that the last 2 times you've had a head on it, it leaked out the back.
Have you had the block checked / magnafluxed ? Perhaps the deck is warped or the block cracked? Was this ever overheated?
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#13
by
arb
on 26 Feb, 2009 11:21
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I find it strange that the last 2 times you've had a head on it, it leaked out the back.
Have you had the block checked / magnafluxed ? Perhaps the deck is warped or the block cracked? Was this ever overheated?
This also got my attention. Maybe you had several things going on. Who ever magnaflux's it for you should also have a "machined" flat edge. I perfer ground flat edges...
Also, do you have a photo of your block deck just before you bolted one of the heads on ?
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#14
by
somepunk22
on 26 Feb, 2009 16:46
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I have never driven the car except a few test runs. Lower end has be rebuilt. This is the only pic I have. This was from awhile ago, and is a bit messy.
I'll straight edge the head after I take it off. I'll also check the block. I was hoping to have a head to put on when I remove the current head.