[Vwdiesel] swapping a good head - DIY head prep??

[Will Taygan]

'82 Westy rebuilt head shaved so much I've got a valve tap?? all the
time - would like to pull it and put on the junker Jetta (assuming it's
mechanical - it's not the original engine).  Of course it could be a
loose prechamber - either way I want it off my new rebuild :)

Question is can I just swap the head, or do I really need a shop to
shave/clean it up (which isn't really an option).

I would then put a different rebuilt head (From the '90 Jetta) onto the
'82 Westy, since that's the vehicle I need to run well.

Maybe I'm doing too much.

Real problem is constant valve tap on '82 Westy, I think it's shaved so
much that I haven't been able to really adjust it out.  Maybe I could
pull the head and put in a 3 notch gasket?  (have a 2 notch now)  

** But it's the same issue: Can I pull a "good" head and prep it at
home, or do I need to get it shaved at the shop - which won't work for
this head (that's the only way they do it up here...)

I didn't want to toss the Westy head, but re-use it for the '90 Jetta
(needs rings and gasket, so I've got to pull that head and have it
rebuilt anyway - just thought I'd keep the better (Jetta) head for the
good Westy and put the tappy one in the junker Jetta).

Thanks!

Will.

(On Mon, 2009-11-09 at 15:03 -0500, LBaird119 at aol.com wrote:
> Maybe it's the flu but I'm not getting why you need to rebuild 
> the rebuilt head?  Valves can "tap" and not bend, most of us have 
> had the cam timing off that far at least once and got away with it. 
> (or at least seen it happen).
>   If it's not crashed then all you really need, maybe, is a valve or two 
> or so.  It shouldn't be warped should it?
>   In actuality you can surface those heads a lot more than most shops 
> are willing to go.  I had one that hit the valves when he was surfacing 
> it.  No charge, it was "junk" at that point.  We put it on the car and 
> it ran great!  The only thing you really have to watch is when you 
> grind the valves and/or seats, the valves drop into the head more 
> so you really need to shorten the ends of the stems or you end up 
> using really thin shims to get them in spec.  With hydraulic valves it
> all the more important to end up in range.
>    Loren
> _______________________________________________
> Vwdiesel mailing list
> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>