I was thinking maybe it means the valve seats are so beat that it's the last time around for that head.
No telling what the PO's mechanic did. I bought the car from Waco, TX from some kid that was destroying it.
The engine seems to be rebuilt well by somebody, even has the better exhaust manifold and bigger exhaust pipe...
I've had to ponder many times what whoever had worked on that car was thinking. The PO wished it was some kind of hot rod (posted a video of himself reving the hell out of it right at startup). He sold it because the fuel lines clogged with rust and it would die on the highway, even with an electric pump added (using an expensive car stereo power relay). The IP was so dirty inside I ended up not using it.
He also put some fat aluminum rims on because they looked cool. The rim bolt pattern was slightly off, but they were impacted on anyway, bending all the lugs and permanently damaging all the internal threads on the hubs and drums.
I won't really know about the head unless it's taken off. It run ok for now, but I wanted to be able to recognize if something is going wrong. Thanks for the replies
BTW, I have thought ahead. Got an ALH Golf - has the the EGR delete and a new head from the PO's mechanic. That guy was destroying his car too, had sticking brakes, extremely warped rotors, and a broken alternator casing from a stuck slider bushing. It's a sweet car now, despite some of over-engineering and cheap interior.. Cruise control is nice, even has a/c
, but I still love the old ones without cpu's.