Is this head toast

[levi20AE]

Here are some pics of my old 1.6 NA head that i pulled.  There was some blue smoke on decel so i figured the seals and guides were toast.  It does have cracks between the valves on each cylinder but none between the valves and the prechambers.  It also never consumed any coolant or oil.






Thanks

[air-cooled or diesel]

blue smoke on decel is rings just starting to go; seems to me. you may luck out(if rest of engine checks out).

[CRSMP5]

2nd photo, ex valve, 9 o clockish... whats that?

[levi20AE]

2nd photo, ex valve, 9 o clockish... whats that?

Just went out and rechecked.  It's an oil smear, not a crack.

Do these cracks appear to large to be useful.

[ORCoaster]

Cracks between like that are fine.  Most all of us have them.  Even those with the turbos.

Were some of the tops of the pistons worn or are the valves bright from cleaning on some of the photos.

[levi20AE]

The heads have been cleaned up and the ends of the valves got a little brushing during the process.  None of the valves touched the cylinders. I looked at all the cylinders before putting the refreshed head on.  The head I used to refresh had only hairline cracks between the valves.

Thanks for the input.

[CRSMP5]

if only a oil smear yourgood... it kinda looked like a smear.. but the line round the edge to valve seat made me ask..

[air-cooled or diesel]

I think you want to rebuild that head,, if its in a ok shape
valves,springs,lifters,etc, I go as far as doing the exhaust guides(at times), and more.
sounds to me like ring job; while you have it apart rod bearings are already apart, why not do them? lots of other stuff can be done too.

[745 turbogreasel]

Looks good to me.

[RabbitJockey]

rering and head rebuild is pretty cheap to do, and the better fuel economy you'll get usually makes it worth it.

[air-cooled or diesel]

bearings(rod/main), timing belt, seals, water pump, to name a few other things that are a good idea; oh yea theres more, its fun though especially if you do the work right and that first start-up, makes it worth it all.
running an almost completely sealed engine for 300k miles is a pretty good result. some work every 300k is about what im getting(usually).

[smutts]

Fine.

[R.O.R-2.0]

in my life, ive only seen ONE vw diesel head not have cracks..

and it only had 30k miles on it supposedly..

cracks between the valves are a thing of life when you drive a VW diesel..

if you can fit the edge of a penny in the cracks, they are too big..