Club 80-90 Forums

Hi Folks, looking for wee bit of advice if you have time. As the chat subject suggests it about cylinder heads again . I am a mechanic and have a good idea so the saga is: Bought an 86 van with 1.9 DG engine that had been roasted and pulled the engine for rework. I had a pair of cylinder heads lying about and put them to a machine shop for skim & pressure test which worked out to cost £120, however, as I live in the Far North sent the the heads and got them back a week later(didn't see machinist). I noticed that the guy had skimmed 0.012th from one head and 0.014th from the other which was ok but I know from looking at them that he had not skimmed the barrel recess. I have put the engine back in, run it up to temp with bleeding system with no leaks at rubber gasket. Hey presto the thing is bubbling up and very little heat at the radiator!
My question is do you all think I should have the heads re worked i.e. skim barrel recess or bite the bullet and buy new ones. Just trying to keep cost down but may have just given myself more heartache. Cheers for reading this, and if anyone knows of any decent heads for sale would be grateful.
Jas

Merely skimming the water jacket seal face acheives next to nothing. Tbh remachining the barrel recess will probably give you more greif as they must be 100% concentric and perfectly matched on each head.
Early cooling system or late? 86 should be late but nothing is certain...
Either way the cooling system on these vehicles can take a bit of bleeding, depending on the state of the heater matrix, radiator, thermostat, bleed hoses (radweld and similar products are great for clogging up the small bore hoses and the bleed hole on the thermostat cover)
It probably isnt the heads at all, more likely to be a bad blue dalek cap or a cracked header tank.
Is the sump coolant free after the top end was disturbed?

Hi, replaced bottom barrel seal if thats what you mean. Its just that I have the temp guage shooting up too. Dont want to roast it again. have blown thru all radiator hoses too but will have a look at matrix hoses. Thanks for the advice mate, very much appreciated. Jas

Which brand of gaskets did you use? I ask as the only barrel to head seals (or fire rings) that fit are elring and reinz. Others such as JPGroup and dph come with fire rings that are not fit for purpose.
It certainly sounds like it's pressurising, and a dodgy fire ring would do it. Did you put any sealant on the fire rings? Heads torqued to 50Nm?
As for the heads, I wouldn't waste money on having them machined. There's little that can be done to improve any of the usual failures, apart from thread repairs and valve guide replacement.
What is wrong with the original heads? Have they been so hot it's vapourised between the valves?

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Morning, thanks for reply. I did use the cheap gasket set made by j p group. Is there an issue with these mate? Had another look at engine yesterday and found a bit of play on water pump and ordered new cap too. Will wait for bits and give it another go but failing that will get erling gaskets. Jas

The issue with the JP Group chepo gasket set is the fire rings are very poor quality, and oversized so won't fit the cylinder head. They are rough in texture and poorly finished. (I only use Elring or VR rings, the difference in quality is remarkable.)
Also the water jacket seals are made of an alternative material rumoured to be porous (Heritage confirmed this).

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Just an update, found after removing heads that upper barrel seals were in tatters and looked more like loose string treads (Very poor quality) and fire ring just did not seat so have replaced with elring parts.
Cheers

Did you take pictures? So others know what to expect if they use cheap gasket sets.

jasonmcnicol wrote: ↑14 Apr 2023, 12:03 Just an update, found after removing heads that upper barrel seals were in tatters and looked more like loose string treads (Very poor quality) and fire ring just did not seat so have replaced with elring parts.
Cheers

Id get the victor reinz set for the gaskets/seals.

Will post some pics later bud, already purchased Elring bits.

Stesaw wrote: Id get the victor reinz set for the gaskets/seals.

I find Elring and VR are of equivalent good quality. Everything else is pants. DPH ok but swap for Elring/VR fire rings instead.

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ajsimmo wrote: ↑14 Apr 2023, 12:17

Stesaw wrote: Id get the victor reinz set for the gaskets/seals.

I find Elring and VR are of equivalent good quality. Everything else is pants.

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Good to know, ill keep that in mind.

jasonmcnicol wrote:Just an update, found after removing heads that upper barrel seals were in tatters and looked more like loose string treads (Very poor quality) and fire ring just did not seat so have replaced with elring parts.
Cheers

Good news, glad you found the issue, and fixed it before any overheating damage.

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