Cylinder Head Rebuild

[basarabam]

Did some searches and I seen a few random things about adjustable pullies and cams but not really anything that covers all my questions on rebuilding a head. If someone hands me the parts they want me to put together for them, I have no issue, but when it comes to WHAT I will need and WHAT to get for best results I just dont have the knowledge.

First I will say that I have completely rebuilt the lower end of my motor. It was done by a race shop here in town. The cylinders were all machined, crank machined and balanced with the pistons/rods, aluminum flywheel, and crank pully; new pistons, bearings, seals, oil pump, etc etc. I assembled in my shop and it has been sitting every since. I go out and turn it over to keep it lubed and free but I really need to get this motor together and in my car!

I was going to have the head sent to Vicks but I just cant afford an $1800 rebuild so I want to have the machine shop do what they can since they will do it for a lot less as long as I supply the parts.

So far from reading and talking to a few others there are a few things I need. Adjustable Cam pullies, but which to get? Miller's did a great job on my flywheel and the crank pully I got from them looks great, recommend their Cam Pullies? I thought maybe Mark had some up on his site but I havent been able to find them if he did.

Was thinking of buying my cams from Mark, and the valves he has up also. The valve part is easy since there are only one kind, but what about the cams? Anyone used any of these cams and have likes and dislikes? After all the money I have spent on the bottom end I sure dont want to screw it up by buying cams/valves that will make it fizzle out.

What other parts will I need? I have the bearings/seals for the cam towers, what about any of the other parts I will need? Do's and don'ts for buying the parts I will need?

Any special instructions for the machine shop? Do's and Don'ts?

Sorry for all the questions but I would like to get my parts ordered and take it in with a list of instructions for them and then just pick it up and install without having to worry that it was done right or wrong.

[So Cal Mark]

cam choice should be based on your engine and planned operation. For instance, if it's going to be strictly street-driven, it makes no sense to use cams that make max power at 7000rpm or above. You'll trade off top end power for poor low and mid range performance. Cams that produce in the upper rpm ranges will require upgraded valve springs along with improved ports and larger valves to be really effective.
Engine specs have to be considered also, compression ratio and exhaust systems play a large part in determing the best cams to use

[basarabam]

Thanks Mark. Not looking to race it, but want it to have snap when I need it. I believe the pistons I got were 10.5:1. Can you elaborate a bit on the exhaust statement? Maybe together we can come up with a good option set and I can get all of it ordered through you?

[narfire]

Matthew, Is the car a FI? I see it is an 80 but they came with carbs and FI. I'd recomend Mark's 274 cams if you have a FI car.
I bought my adjustable cam wheels from Millers and were impressed with the work. As you would know when it is all put back together, you should have the engine degreed in properly to really take advantage of the cams.
I was charged about $750.00 for machining the head and port work and 3 angle grind on the valves and seats. I supplied the cylinder head. I have tried heads with both oversized valves and stock valves. I'm not enough of an expert to really notice the difference when most of my driving is between 2800-4500 rpm. Perhaps would make a difference with the occasional foray into the 5000+rpm range.
Chris

[basarabam]

Mine is carborated. I dont need it to be super aggressive, just want to take advantage of all the money I have already invested in it.

What machining did they do on the head? Was it warped and needed to be faced off? Do you install all the other parts or did they do that too? Did you install your own cams or have them do all that?

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.

[narfire]

The machining portion was just the surfacing. I believe they took about 8-10 thou off. They installed the valves after cutting them.
I put the cams in, just involved taking the back plate off, pull old ones out and put the new ones in with assembly grease and cam break in grease that came with the cams. I put the towers back on and installed the head and got it all together. My friend did the degreeing -in of the engine.
With a carb'd engine, get hold of Mark and after you figure what kind of driving you are going to do, he'll recomend a cam that will match your carb.
Mine is nowhere near a race motor, but it has real nice pull from about 3200-5000 rpm. When I put my foot in it, You notice the difference over stock. Once I can figure out where this slight lurge/surge is from, it will be just fine driving down the strip in first as well.

[basarabam]

Is your bottom end stock? Just curious.

Thanks for all the info. I will definitely get with him to make an order. Hopefully he has everything I need to make it a one stop for the head rebuild.

[narfire]

Is your bottom end stock

In the car....no. .4 oversize Mahle pistons, lightened flywheel, aluminium crank wheel, Ansa headers, the rotating stuff all balanced.

[basarabam]

Sounds like my build except for the crank.

[So Cal Mark]

what rpm range do you plan to operate in? For the street, I'd suggest cams that make great torque in the midrange, that will provide the "snap" you're looking for when you come out of a corner or jump on it. Dual carbs or single?

[basarabam]

I plan on using a 2 barrel with adapter like I did on my van.

Ran into a BIG SNAG here working on my car. I got all new ball joints and was going to put them in. After getting the spindle off I found that the lower A arm is broken. That sure isnt much metal they had the bottom ball joint connected to!!!

[So Cal Mark]

I've got lots of used arms

[basarabam]

Mark can you give me a price shipped to 35957?

I seen Vick's has new A-Arms for $80 with the ball joint already in. It is going to be a bit of a pain getting those ball joints off the spindle. Cant get a socket in there on my impactor and they are very secure... I have them soaking in penetrating oil hoping that will help.

Back on Topic... I called Vick's about their $995 performance head they sell. Since I have never rebuilt a head before I am not overly confident in doing it and would hate to mess something up. They told me that it has larger valves, is ported and polished and has heavier springs than the stock rebuilt. I guess my big question would be are the larger valves and port and polish going to give me a $500 improvement on performance or is that just something race guys would want? If the stock rebuilt head ($495) isnt going to give much less performance than I would rather stick that extra $500 into something else in the car. For $250 they will mount the cams with the spacering and all that.

Stock head with it ready to bolt on about $1100

Performance head ready to bolt on about $1650

This is all assuming that the head off my car is rebuildable for the core ($250) and the cams are rebuildable for that core ($80). The only way to find that out is to ship all of it which I am sure is going to cost $50+ so I need to add that to my price as well.

I just wish I had the knowledge on how to rebuild it myself.

[maytag]

Matt, I bet you could talk Mark into doing the build for you, so you could keep your one-stop-shopping spree going!

[basarabam]

I got an email from a forum member about a 1608 head that is rebuilt already, can this be used on a 2 liter?