Getting my head shaved down, how much is too much?

[Turbo Targa]

Just got a call from the machine shop that is inspecting the head off of my Supra. They guy said its pitted pretty bad and would need between 20,000 and 22,000 thousanths to clean it up.

Is this head salvagable, and can I get a good metal head gasket to make up for this? Anything else I need to know before giving him the go-ahead on this?

He said the valves and everything else look good though.

Thanks in Advance

Alex

 

[socc924]

unfortunatly I dont know how much is too much... but I can tell you that they took off 12 thousands off mine and it was fine. And I used a near stock sized hg, so they sell much thicker. I would say that as long as they could do it without messing up the valves you should be fine putting on a thick hg. THey also should know what the max cut they can do is.

 

[GrimJack]

Err... hopefully you mean 20-22 thou... your posted figures equal 20-22 INCHES, which is more than the entire head.

20-22 should work fine, get a 2mm head gasket if you are concerned.

 

[Turbo Targa]

Err... hopefully you mean 20-22 thou... your posted figures equal 20-22 INCHES, which is more than the entire head.

20-22 should work fine, get a 2mm head gasket if you are concerned.

:aigo: :1zhelp: :aigo:

Oops! Sorry, during the day I tend to post from work and I try to do it as fast as I can so I tend to mess up.

Is it worth getting a valve job done at this point? Like most people I would like to do this and not have to do it again for a while.

 

[GrimJack]

Did you do a compression test before you tore it apart? That would tell you whether the valves might benefit from the work.

If you didn't, and you have the spare coin, go for it, it really can't hurt.

 

[Turbo Targa]

Did you do a compression test before you tore it apart? That would tell you whether the valves might benefit from the work.

If you didn't, and you have the spare coin, go for it, it really can't hurt.

Didn't get a chance to do a compression test before the tear down. It ran fine tho so there doesn't seem to be any big problems, and the machinest reported things as looking good. I priced out a valve job today and I am definitly going to put my money elsewhere. My Supra needs new tires, downpipe, and probably a few other little things as I get her street worthy. Her build up will come after I finish my primary project.

 

[mrnickleye]

Do the valve job.!! Talk to the shop about doing a GOOD adjustment on valves. Mine came out great, others have said they didn't. The valves should be adjusted on the bench, using the correct shims.

 

[glntom]

I put my money elsewhere, skipped the valve job, now 6000miles out from the work, I need valve seals. Do yourself a favor and do it now.(or at least get new seals put in.)

 

[IJ.]

Quick question would be: Do you know how much is already off the head?
(quite a few 7M's have been skimmed before)

 

[Turbo Targa]

What should I be looking at price wise for a valve job? The guy said it would be about 150 bucks in labor, plus getting a head seal kit (something of the sort) for between 100 and 250 more dollars.

Gulp!

 

[Turbo Targa]

They shaved the head down 23 thousanths. Valvejob is going to run me about 380, ontop of the 75 bucks for shaving and inspection of the head.

Is it worth it? I am not even really sure on the condition of the rest of the motor except that I know it ran well apart from the BHG, and that it has an odd shake around 2k rpms.

 

[ToyoHabu]

Well if your head started bleeding I would say you shaved to much

on a serious note though, the age old question of is it worth it is so subjective that other people cannot really answer that for you. I would make a few suggestions though.

1. Make sure head is not warped. If you shave a warped head you and reinstall you can crack the camshafts.

2. Depeneding on how severe the head overheated during BHG the metal may have become soft especaily on the exhaust side. this would render the head useless. Since there seams to be large amount of pitting I would be very suspicious.

3. during a BHG, water may make it into the oil. this can cause damage to the bearings in short order.

In short, take time to investigate the condition of motor over all and make a judgement for yourself then

Im spending over $5000 on mine this summer some would call me crazy or stupid, I may be both but I like my supra and I think she is worth it.

 

[IJ.]

Well if your head started bleeding I would say you shaved to much

on a serious note though, the age old question of is it worth it is so subjective that other people cannot really answer that for you. I would make a few suggestions though.

1. Make sure head is not warped. If you shave a warped head you and reinstall you can crack the camshafts.

2. Depeneding on how severe the head overheated during BHG the metal may have become soft especaily on the exhaust side. this would render the head useless. Since there seams to be large amount of pitting I would be very suspicious.

3. during a BHG, water may make it into the oil. this can cause damage to the bearings in short order.

In short, take time to investigate the condition of motor over all and make a judgement for yourself then

Im spending over $5000 on mine this summer some would call me crazy or stupid, I may be both but I like my supra and I think she is worth it.

Anyone that spends $1 on a head without having it checked for hardness is deluding themselves as once it's soft it's never going to be reliable.

The "Test" takes 30 seconds and most shops will do it free of charge if you ask nicely!

Great post Habu!

 

[Turbo Targa]

Ok well I pick up the head today and I think I am in deep water. They shaved the head alright, but the method of shaving has left the head grooved. Meaning that there are lots of lines from the cutting partern. I am assuming this is bad. What kind of shaving need to be done to correct this, if it wont fubar the head beyond use.

 

[IJ.]

With a stock Composite gasket it'll seal fine just don't try to use it with a MHG like that!

 

[Turbo Targa]

But what will my limitations be with a stock Composite Gasket? I am not looking for much more then what ever a filter, a elbow, and downpipe will give me in performance. But I dont want to end up having to get this all done again either!

 

[IJ.]

A set of ARP bolts /Composite gasket should be fine with your goals!
(probably get away with new stock bolts but I'm guessing they'd cost more than the ARP's)

The cavet here being as long as they haven't taken too much off the head raising the Compression.

If it detonates it will kill the HG metal or Composite!

 

[Turbo Targa]

Well thats the only good news I have gotten today. As I am beginning to see with this car, there is no since in building the crap out of the head if the shortblock isn't stout either.

What is the method of shaving the head that doesn't leave grooves? This groove thing is going to bug the crap out of me.

 

[suprabad]

What is the method of shaving the head that doesn't leave grooves? This groove thing is going to bug the crap out of me.

NEW HEAD...NEW MACHINE SHOP! :nono:

 

[IJ.]

Do the grooves catch your fingernail?