Head Gasket

[GTI-Virgin]

Many many thanks for all the info guys, gotta say its sounding more dauntng than I thought, but then again I changed a main heat exchanger on a crappy boiler yesterday, nearly every bolt snapped and it took me 6hrs, so iv got the patience.

My only worry is all these car fittings are much larger in size.

Ben-I did only get bolts & gasket as I was unable to find a kit anywhere & after searching these forums the links were just to those items    The bolts are a very large star type, must be like a 20pt star?

Will I get away without intake/outtake gaskets? turn em over and apply silicone grease? or is that just boilers that works for.

Bush-Thanks alot for your input but What are studs? And thx alot for the logical advice of checking the head on a straight surface, didnt even think of that 

Anyway haynes is on its way, from germany for some reason  But my m8 ordered it so god knows why.

Personally I really wanna tackle this myself as iv now got a taste for golf's and all my custards who are mechanics say they are easy & good to work on. just wanna get this fixed then im gonna be looking at getting myself a nice 16v or 20VT depending on insurance quotes as the 8v is surprisingly low, just worried it will be hard to get one with some decent upgrades that hasnt been ragged all over.
seen a few nice examples for around the £2000 mark, they look well worth that 

[MereKat]

Intake/Outlet gaskets are a few £s from VW, may aswell replace them properly, if you use a sealant and it doesn't fully seal it may make it run differently...

For my ABF intake gaskets were £3something each, outlets shouldn't be much different...

[GTI-Virgin]

So the engines gone into the garage for £300, heads just come off and is going to off tomorrow to be reskimmed & pressure tested, fingers crossed.

The mechanic doing the work has said the plastic housing/connector that connects the cooling circuit to the head on the same end as the expansion ball on the bottom is cracked, i asked him if he knew the part no./name but he doesnt, does anybody have any ideas guys? name or number?

I also need the breather pipes from the top of the engine as they are melted, would any of you guys know a part no/price for these items? he's just gonna contact VW and hes saying theyl likely cost a bit from them 

Any info would really be appreciated as my bills growing and id like to keep upo with whats going on and learn a bit along the way.

Oh  yeah and as advised by u guys theres a snapped stud on manifold  the mechanic says hel get the engine ppl who are sorting the head to do that aswell.

Its a bit of a downer but i was thinkin how nice she looked with great clods of steam coming out the back, lol.

[Callum_K]

This is what you need

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Water-Coolant-Flange-End-Head-VW-Golf-74-02-/380498170366

[GTI-Virgin]

wow cheers fella, ur a helpful lot 

Iv definitely got my heart set on a Vr6  or a 20VT for summer, this forums# is amaaazing for info, golf heads really are dedicated