Also on the subject of head bolts. I also dont like the feel (or lack of it) with stretch bolts either. I use high tensile "non stretch" type bolts on mine, torqued to 65ib... never had a problem yet. A knowledgeable fastener supplier should be able to supply them, something like .9's, cost about a tenner. We also always used to just torque stretch bolts to about the same back in days of MK2/3 Cavaliers/Astras etc (sorry !) and again, they were fine. I do also use a metal head gasket on mine as well.
i was going to rebuild a std head i had that i had stripped down, but i bought a head off ebay (begining to wish i hadn't now) here's the link here i know i paid too much, i got in bidding war when drunk it said he changed the stem seals etc will i have to strip out the valves to check?? i didn't torque the head down properly, i only did 1/4 extra turn not 1/2 so could this give me these symptons? cheers for the replies guys Chris
@ Gareth, 16v ones are 13 + VAT per set from AVS, and seem to be more expensive in general. That's kinda expensive if they're 8v ones though.
If it's any good then that's a bargain price. It looks OK from the pics, but they're not great quality photos. You need to take the valve springs off to check the stem seals, so that's cam out, buckets off, etc. If you haven't got a spring compressor, maybe the machine shop will help tomorrow? However, make sure they only take a minimum skim, as it's been done before! Can they check it for flatness before they start? I still think it could be oil leakage from the oilways into the cylinders, due to the head not being tight enough. What was the bottom end like when you took the other head off? If it wasn't oily then, the oil control rings are probably ok, and in that case there's no reason why they would suddenly go wrong now (unless maybe the 3A lump has been stood for a long time and they've stuck)
The link looks genuine enough, but you only have his work for the work. Price ok if it works as described, though i doubt it would give that much extra power, 8-10 should be realistic though. If its 55ib then a 1/4 turn you've probably tightened if to about 60ib. Probably not "really" tight enough but I would'nt have said slack enough for a problem. You'll have to strip the cam and followers off but should be able to see the seals through the springs. Though if you get that far I'd pull the springs and valves and check for guide wear.
Mr H, I agree, unless the bolts were stretching so badly that the torque dropped way below the wrench setting.... There's no real way of knowing how tight they were after that extra 90 degree turn - if they had a problem in heat treatment they could be like soft butter... The correct setting is 60NM before the extra 180 degrees, which I think is about 45 lbft (it's roughly 4:3 I think)
Yeah thats why I dont like them. You cant beat that feel when the torque wrench clicks off and you "know" its at whatever you want it set at.
the heads in the boot of my other car with the cam off and buckets out ready for the skim, i've got spring compressors as i took the valves out of another std head i had that i was going to rebuild, i pulled out th old valve stem seals, but haven't fitted any, so is it just a case of looking at them to see if they're sitting proud?? i'll ask him to check it first as the face looks fine etc, i did have a quick look with a steel rule but couldn't really tell much tbh. the bottom end was fine no oil, a bit of dry carbon but that came off easy, and barely any wear in the cylinder bores. thing is the engine was sat for a couple of years in the blokes garage with the oil in. i've read loads of guides and have never heard of these oil control rings i take it you have to strip the block down to do them?? is there any way of checking them?? thanks for the help Chris
Oil control rings would be a bottom end rebuild job... you could do it through the sump, but.... Also I've heard that 3A pistons can be hard to get - hope that doesn't apply to the rings as well! If the block was stored in dry conditions it should be ok. As long as you can afford another 40 ish for gasket and bolts, worth another try I'd think.
Mmm.. long time sat around. Oil control rings are on the pistons and do as the name suggests. The only way to be sure is to pull out the pistons and fit all new rings. Sounds like the fault could be with the head, but if the rings are stuck...
I'm off to work.. not playing anymore because your too fast for me Mike !! Rings easy enough to get, though not cheap. We've just fitted some "Total seal" rings to a friends 2ltr conversion, will post up results when its running... well, when I finish the head !
It doesn`t look like the exhaust manifold lines up verry well with the port,also it looks like it was blowing as there is dry soot on the left side of the port.
i think i'll try the getting the head skimmed and a new gasket first then. before the conversion i bought a 1800 dx engine code head gasket kit, and a 3a head gasket. obviously i've used the 3a gasket but after looking at the two together they are very similar, amd if anything the dx one has more metal bits on it. would i be ok using this head gasket or do i have to buy another 3a one?? nowhere sells the metal abf ones that i can find. cheers guys Chris
I think the DX one will be too small for the bigger bore of the 2.0 engine. You could always offer it up against the block to check, but I'd use a 2.0 one.
