Head skim

[cawsey20]

Hi there guys and girls.

My S3 is being tested later on to see if the headgasket is on it's way out as it has a few of the symptoms.
If this is the case im going to be taking it to my dad's at the weekend and we will start the stripdown, im planning on getting it all apart on saterday and bringing the head back with me to possibly have it skimmed.
How much will it cost to get skimmed ? how long does it take ?. Also any ideas where i can get it done.
One more question i have does it cost alot more to get it ported / polished bla bla.

Thanks alot in advance.

 

[Welly]

Hi there guys and girls.

My S3 is being tested later on to see if the headgasket is on it's way out as it has a few of the symptoms.
If this is the case im going to be taking it to my dad's at the weekend and we will start the stripdown, im planning on getting it all apart on saterday and bringing the head back with me to possibly have it skimmed.
How much will it cost to get skimmed ? how long does it take ?. Also any ideas where i can get it done.
One more question i have does it cost alot more to get it ported / polished bla bla.

Thanks alot in advance.

Yes it does cost a lot more to have the head ported....

However, a simple skim won't take long. Depends on how busy whoever it is doing it is at the time. I would imagine they would turn it around in a day.

Costs vary, but not normally much more than about £30 ish. Check price before they do the work.

 

[<tuffty/>]

Skimming the head will raise the compression ratio slightly and potentially means that you may get timing pull long term as the ECU trys to control the onslaught of detonation... if your head is checked and is true then don't get it done... it is advisable however to get the exhaust valve guides replaced as these wear quite badly and contribute to oil consumption and valve failure...

As said, don't bother with porting on a small port... this will cost in the region of £700-£800 to get done properly... just get a large port head which is much cheaper (anything up to £200 depending how lucky you get) and flows around the same as a ported small port (give or take) but as I said before, change the exhaust valve guides and use new stem seals

<tuffty/>

 

[cawsey20]

exhaust valves etc how much am i looking for the parts ?.

Ok guys cheers for the advice..

 

[cawsey20]

Sorry valve guides..

 

[<tuffty/>]

Cost me around £80 to have the guides done inc parts... you shouldn't need the inlets done... the large port head I have with well over 100k miles of use was fine on the inlets and for straightness... exhausts are shot anytime from 60k onwards typically...

<tuffty/>

 

[cawsey20]

where did u get it done mate ? . Im guessing its a take the head somewhere job ?. Same as head skimming

 

[<tuffty/>]

Had it done at a place in Cheltenham local to where I work....

I gave them a bare head as I had already stripped it, its not the most fun I have ever had... 20 valves takes a bit of time and you have to be careful not to mark the follower bores plus the cam chain needs careful alignment (only 'special' tool needed is a cam chain tensioner compressor which are a tenner on ebay)... will cost you a but more if the engineering shop you take it too have to strip and reassemble the exhaust side of the head but seeing the play in the head I had done its a worthwhile investment if the heads off anyway...

<tuffty/>

 

[Andrew@A.L.D]

don't bother with porting on a small port... this will cost in the region of £700-£800 to get done properly.

I have done a small port head for £450 inc skim. Mine has been flow bench tested and flow a tad more that a standard large port head