grumpyvette
Well-known member
NEW/HEADS, you should NOT just bolt them on!
now Ill probably tick some guys off here, but I see enought heads come thru the shop to point out a comon problem, and its NOT limited to one or a couple manufacturers, Ive seen it on nearly every brand and type of cylinder head!, what Im refering to is bits of casting flash, bits of aluminum or cast iron chips from machine work or sloppy assembly, burred threads, threads that are not cleanly cut,ETC. on new out of the box cylinder heads, I won,t name brands BUT some of the top names have bits of aluminum chips/dust/crud left in the ports in as shipped heads and disassembly and use of a stiff tooth brush, high pressure air and carb cleaner spray along with reassembly with the proper lubricants and running a tap thru threads and cleaning all machined surfaces with solvent,is almost mandatory if your don,t want bits of crud washing around in the engine durring first starting the engine. it sure doesn,t hurt to check the spring bind and other clearances, and that the valve seals are correctly installed either
IM sure the manufacturers used a high pressure air hose to blow out the ports and water passages, but theres comonly some crud remaining so inspect carefully, and clean those new heads BEFORE installing them
, yes the cheaper brands seem more prone to this problem but even the best brands are comonly seen to be recieved in less than steller condition, and need some basic clean-up
BTW, one of these tools comes in handy durring the inspection process
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=WMR-W89409&autoview=sku
now Ill probably tick some guys off here, but I see enought heads come thru the shop to point out a comon problem, and its NOT limited to one or a couple manufacturers, Ive seen it on nearly every brand and type of cylinder head!, what Im refering to is bits of casting flash, bits of aluminum or cast iron chips from machine work or sloppy assembly, burred threads, threads that are not cleanly cut,ETC. on new out of the box cylinder heads, I won,t name brands BUT some of the top names have bits of aluminum chips/dust/crud left in the ports in as shipped heads and disassembly and use of a stiff tooth brush, high pressure air and carb cleaner spray along with reassembly with the proper lubricants and running a tap thru threads and cleaning all machined surfaces with solvent,is almost mandatory if your don,t want bits of crud washing around in the engine durring first starting the engine. it sure doesn,t hurt to check the spring bind and other clearances, and that the valve seals are correctly installed either
IM sure the manufacturers used a high pressure air hose to blow out the ports and water passages, but theres comonly some crud remaining so inspect carefully, and clean those new heads BEFORE installing them
, yes the cheaper brands seem more prone to this problem but even the best brands are comonly seen to be recieved in less than steller condition, and need some basic clean-up
BTW, one of these tools comes in handy durring the inspection process
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=WMR-W89409&autoview=sku