How do I determine if it's possible to run an engine with a head that I don't really know the condition of?
He said he threw it many times.
I turned the Camshaft with a wrench and it seemed stiff, but I don't know how much resistance there should be. It also looks pretty dry of oil.
I have a different camshaft and camgear (?) that I want to put into it. Valves are also cheap for it.
I know I need a valve compressor to change the valves... how much should I spend here? I'm building a cheap Honda because I'm not rich over here.
How do I determine if the block of metal that is the head is use-able?
First determine not warped.
Google how to check for cylinder head warping.
Take camshafts out, check all bearing surfaces for scratches, minor ones could be polished out, scratch your fingernail across the surface (this won't do any damage) if there is any scratch that stops your fingernail the surface is fucked and head would need serious work.
Check all valves for corosion and pitting.
Same with valve seats, these can be reground if in bad shape.
Mmmm
That's about it.
You'll want to replace can seals and valve stem seals.
Oh and make sure all valve springs are intact. Any cracked ones are best replaced.
Good luck, I highly advise you search "cylinder head jaftomobile" for some good learning about cylinder heads.
Oh and don't turn it over without either A) assembly lube or B) oil in the head. If its been sat for a while best practice is not to turn it over at all till you can get oil in there.
the valve springs will make it difficult to rotate the cam. if you take it apart, remove the rockers, clean the cam bearing surfaces, relube with clean motor oil and reassemble without the rockers the cam should rotate very freely. That's just for the cam.
check out the Snap-on Bluepoint GA317 or similar tools from Lisle for removing/installing the keepers. If you really want to use that head you're going to have to be very thorough inspecting it if you don't want to risk it not working out after installed. inspect all threaded holes, spark plug threads, and contact surfaces for wear. To check for cracks and head warpage you'll likely want to take it to a machine shop to be checked unless you want to invest in more tools.
>>14975330
Take it to a shop.
Get checked for leaks and porosity.
Only test you can do yourself is checking it for warp with a straight edge and visually looking at the surfaces for scoring on the cam lobes, cracks or pits on the valves and seats. Either way you should still clean it in a hot tank and replace valve stem seals.
it's crazy how complicated cylinder heads are.
compared to a rotary engine, sure you might need to rebuild it more often if it's a turbo engine (or rx-8), but even a 5 year old can do it.
You can tell if it's soft with a special tool that is, essentially, a ball bearing in a small tube that you drop onto the surface of the cylinder head that faces the engine.
If the ball bearing bounces above a certain distance, it's still hard. If it impacts without much of a bounce, it's soft and not worth re-using.
OP, honestly, your best bet is to take it to a workshop and ask them to do a quick check of it - literally ask something like "would you put this on a customer's car or not?", and if they say no, then scrap it.
>>14976510
no.
cylinder heads are ground to within 0.001". maybe if you were going to shave it anyway.
>>14976516
What? I was talking about softness, not warping. Everyone else has covered head warp already, but no one had mentioned in the thread that the metal can go soft.
>>14975403
>jaftomobile
This gets 3 results. One of them from this thread. What is the correct spelling?
>>14975403
>jaftomobile
jafro, nigga
