Agu head rebuild where to take

[s3gazz]

As above had the agu head a wile now and want to send it off for a few bit doin what should I get done to it and where is the best place to take cheers lad

there is a place near me called drakes but they realy rob u blind

[Andrew@A.L.D]

What are you wanting doing Gazz?

I'm will be rebuilding a AEB one this weekend

[s3gazz]

I don't no really just seals and clean skim if needed guides what ever is needed for my build in a few month drakes are rip off pal 350 he said

[<tuffty/>]

Are the valves etc removed? labour gets more if they have to strip the head first...

I was charged 90 quid to fit 8 exhaust guides and have the protrusion of metal where the tensioner pulley fits flushed... that was a stripped head... the guy did lap the exhaust valves in for me too of course..

If your head is built then they will need to strip it and clean it before they can sort the guides... then I guess they will be putting it back together...

I have stripped and built quite a few 20v heads now and they are not the most fun thing in the world and time consuming... £350 for a head refurb sounds fair to me tbh...

<tuffty/>

[Andrew@A.L.D]

Drop it off with me gazz and i'll look it over for you and give my honest opinion and recommendations

[s3gazz]

U still on same number andrew and thanks ye I will do where u want me to meet u pal

[Andrew@A.L.D]

I am on the same number

You can drop it off this weekend if you want?

[s3gazz]

Are the valves etc removed? labour gets more if they have to strip the head first...

I was charged 90 quid to fit 8 exhaust guides and have the protrusion of metal where the tensioner pulley fits flushed... that was a stripped head... the guy did lap the exhaust valves in for me too of course..

If your head is built then they will need to strip it and clean it before they can sort the guides... then I guess they will be putting it back
together...

I have stripped and built quite a few 20v heads now and they are not the most fun thing in the world and time consuming... £350 for a head refurb sounds fair to me tbh...

<tuffty/>

it's all together tuffty I could strip it tho the Saturday I just don't no what I need for it or to have done mate

[8pot]

Try amt in chesterfield. Highly recommended 01246 273929

[aragorn]

I paid <£200 for a skim, fully dismantled and hot tanked (it was CAKED in sludge), relapped valves with new stem seals and reassembly.

That was at Blackpool Road and Rally.

[Andrew@A.L.D]

I've have it

Its been stripped and as expected it needs new exhaust guides, will recut the seats, clean all valves, lap them in, port and polish ( more on the exhaust side), clean before and after port work, rebuild, diamond cut the face all for a very good price

[Prawn]

I've have it

Its been stripped and as expected it needs new exhaust guides, will recut the seats, clean all valves, lap them in, port and polish ( more on the exhaust side), clean before and after port work, rebuild, diamond cut the face all for a very good price

Sounds like I'll have to be in touch when the times comes for me to fit my Rods! I've been looking into what to do to the head whilst it's off. Was thinking supertech exhaust valves, new guides, and stem seals. That sound about right?

[aragorn]

Interestingly enough, i asked the bloke at Road and Rally to do the exhaust valve guides, given it was a 120k head and had been somewhat mistreated, and on checking the head he said that while there was a bit of play, he'd seen worse after fitting brand new guides so advised i didnt bother.

Given he was in effect turning down work, i figured what he said must have been true given his experience etc, yet every 1.8T head rebuild i read about on here seems to need guides... So either people are being overcautious and replacing guides that dont actually need replaced, or the bloke at Road and Rally didnt want to do the job for some reason?

[s3gazz]

Thanks andrew and everyone for your thoughts.

Is eveything going ok andrew and if anyone wants there's doing I'd pm andrew seen these heads my self and what a job he does well werth doin.

[Andrew@A.L.D]

Sounds like I'll have to be in touch when the times comes for me to fit my Rods! I've been looking into what to do to the head whilst it's off. Was thinking supertech exhaust valves, new guides, and stem seals. That sound about right?

Not a problem, Just give us a shout

[Andrew@A.L.D]

Thanks andrew and everyone for your thoughts.

Is eveything going ok andrew and if anyone wants there's doing I'd pm andrew seen these heads my self and what a job he does well werth doin.

Yes everything is going well, the main cutting has been done and just need to finish all the ports off but thats the bit that take time, Once thats done it will be going off for the guides to be fitted, cut the seats and skim

[Andrew@A.L.D]

Interestingly enough, i asked the bloke at Road and Rally to do the exhaust valve guides, given it was a 120k head and had been somewhat mistreated, and on checking the head he said that while there was a bit of play, he'd seen worse after fitting brand new guides so advised i didnt bother.

Given he was in effect turning down work, i figured what he said must have been true given his experience etc, yet every 1.8T head rebuild i read about on here seems to need guides... So either people are being overcautious and replacing guides that dont actually need replaced, or the bloke at Road and Rally didnt want to do the job for some reason?

It all depends on the service intervals its had as some heads are better than others

[aragorn]

This head was CAKED in sludge, and came from an engine which had welded the crank to the big end shells due to a lack of oil pressure. So certainly should have been leaning on the worse side of things.

I'd originally just asked him to skim it, and he had put it in the hot tank for a day. When it came back i wasnt happy as there was still sludge deep down in the casting, and i decided it would be silly not to at least put new stem seals in. So I took it back and asked him to fully strip it and wash everything separately to get it properly spotless, replace the guides if needed and re cut the seats and fit new stem seals.

He ended up leaving it in the hot tank for about a week to get all of the sludge out of the head casting!

I'm just now wondering if i have dodgy guides in the engine and whats likely to happen as a result if they are?

[Andrew@A.L.D]

I would of put that head in the bin and start again

If the engine die from welding a bearing to the crank then you can imagine the lack of oil going to the head so the cam bearings, guides, tappet bores, cams, tappets would be shot. Add to that the miles it has done with low oil pressure and the wear there is on other parts like the turbo.

When my oil pump fails i got another head and rebuilt the bottom end

[aragorn]

Maybe i should have replaced it, but i rebuilt it with a spare crank, Brute rods and a used set of stock pistons from another engine i had sitting around. The turbo was siezed solid, so that went in the bin and i fitted a new one. Head was reconned as described above, i even reused the lifters after soaking them in petrol for several hours and giving them a good flush thru! Its all back together and has done over 6000 trouble free miles so far, albeit on a standard 180hp tune.

I did actaully buy a brand new audi head from ebay, and planned to fit that, but it had a score/scratch on one cam journal presumably from sloppy handling so i decided against using it.

Anyway that didnt answer my question! What exactly would happen to an engine with worn guides?

[Andrew@A.L.D]

rattle and poor seating of the valve