help me reach 100! - update! GTI HEAD BOUGHT!

[Khare]

yup. you were right. The inlet manifold, valve cover and exhaust gaskets come with the HG set, but the bolts i have to buy seperatly.

What special tools do i need to do this conversion? I dont have a torque wrench but i may be able to borrow one...if not, does it really matter?

[danny_p]

torqe on head bolts is critical,      so is the torqeing sequence   

[Diamond Hell]

Speak to Beavis on here - he works at Vee W Services in Bristol who are normally cheaper/better quality than GSF or ECP and might be able to do you a deal for what you need, as well as shipping it down to you.

[Khare]

torqe on head bolts is critical,      so is the torqeing sequence   

ok mate. says on the haynes stage 1 2 and 3. what stage do i have? 1 im guessing

[Khare]

Speak to Beavis on here - he works at Vee W Services in Bristol who are normally cheaper/better quality than GSF or ECP and might be able to do you a deal for what you need, as well as shipping it down to you.

cheers mate. will PM him about it and let him know

[Diamond Hell]

ok mate. says on the haynes stage 1 2 and 3. what stage do i have?

It's the amount of torque that you're putting on the bolts - go to 40NM on all bolts, then 60NM, then 90degrees normally - means it's all tightened down properly.

When I fitted my PB head I took it to an engineering shop and got it skimmed and the valve stem seals replaced.  Any good shop will clean it before it comes back to you, too.  This means you do your DIY porting, then send it off and don't have to worry about the swarf in the head.

Costs a bit more, but de-risks what you're doing.

[Khare]

ok mate. says on the haynes stage 1 2 and 3. what stage do i have?

It's the amount of torque that you're putting on the bolts - go to 40NM on all bolts, then 60NM, then 90degrees normally - means it's all tightened down properly.

When I fitted my PB head I took it to an engineering shop and got it skimmed and the valve stem seals replaced.  Any good shop will clean it before it comes back to you, too.  This means you do your DIY porting, then send it off and don't have to worry about the swarf in the head.

Costs a bit more, but de-risks what you're doing.

Ahh right ok. I understand. How much would it cost to get the head skimmed and valve stem seals replaced?

[Diamond Hell]

You're in quite an expensive area, so call around.  Maybe speak to a couple of garages or auto-factors to see who they recommend.

Shouldn't *really* be over £50.

The key is the risk you're removing by doing it - nice clean face to make sure the head gasket seals, knowing it's a flat face helps the cause, too.  It'd be a bit of a p1sser to do all this and then have it smoke like mad when you trail the throttle because the stem seals are shagged.

I seem to recall there are different thicknesses of headgasket, too.  You need the right one, or your compression ratio could be off.  Too high = detonation and short engine life, too low = reduced power.  The engineering shop will be able to advise how much is 'left' to come off the head when they've skimmed it.

[Khare]

You're in quite an expensive area, so call around.  Maybe speak to a couple of garages or auto-factors to see who they recommend.

Shouldn't *really* be over £50.

The key is the risk you're removing by doing it - nice clean face to make sure the head gasket seals, knowing it's a flat face helps the cause, too.  It'd be a bit of a p1sser to do all this and then have it smoke like mad when you trail the throttle because the stem seals are shagged.

I seem to recall there are different thicknesses of headgasket, too.  You need the right one, or your compression ratio could be off.  Too high = detonation and short engine life, too low = reduced power.  The engineering shop will be able to advise how much is 'left' to come off the head when they've skimmed it.

i'l call around different auto specialists in the area then, and find out some prices. How do i find out the HG thickness i need? i thought the HG set from GSF would be fine to use.

[Diamond Hell]

I'm not 100% on this, but a totally unskimmed head uses a gasket with a single circle on the edge of it. 

One that's had a skim would be fitted with a two circle one.

One that's close on done (so only good for another 100k) would use a three circle gasket.

The circles denote increasing thickness of the gasket - compensating for the reduced depth on the head.

Some ETKA gimp will be along to give a better explanation, no doubt.