anybody have cheap USED heads lying around for sale?

[bd1308]

I know its the wrong forum, but I was wondering if anybody had a set of USED heads I could buy. Mine pulled the exhaust threads, so it makes the popping sound. I heard the thread savers dont work well at all either. I suppose I could drop the engine (how?) take the head off and drill out and re-tap the head for the thread savers.... anybody have any information. Just need some help/info as I am in college and a cheap/good head that fit onto my 914 would work...do the bus heads fit. I know the exhaust ports are square instead of oval, are the bus heads 3-stud?

[Alfred1]

What kind of motor do you have? I have a 1.8L longblock sitting in my garage right now but I have no idea what condition the heads are in. I'm guessing that they will need some "cleaning up" though ...

1.8L longblock

[bd1308]

I guess that would help...I am embarrased! It is a 74 D-Jet 2.0L....sorry alfred, i wish i could take that one off your hands! Looks clean

[unclerichy]

Depends on your definition of "cheap". Gonna be tough to find inexpensive 2ltr heads.

[bd1308]

well i dunno, I was expecting to hear somewhere in the 500 ballpark...but i dunno

[bd1308]

unless somebody could tell me if those threaded heli-coil things for exhaust studs work for stripped heads if i were to re-tap???? Or I could just stop complaining and drive the VW (pop pop pop pop)?

[Alfred1]

Take the head to a competent machinist in your area or phone these guys up and see if they can help you.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

"Cheap 2.0 heads" are not gonna happen, unless you get really lucky. I got a set for $650 a while back which needed rebuilding--but there were no cracks. I counted myself very lucky at that!

Bus heads have four intake studs; the 2.0 914 and the 912E were the only cars equipped with the three-intake-stud heads. Only the latest of the 2.0 liter Bus engines had "square port" heads; earlier Buses had 2.0s with oval ports or 1.7s (possibly some 1.8s as well). All were very low-compression motors with very low power, all had heads with very small ports which contributed to the lack of power.

--DD

[calbrat]

I got some heads on Ebay (Doh!) that were done nice for $400. I ended up selling my old ones with burned valve guides for $150 on Ebay. Rebuilt heads, supposedly done by Rimco... for $250 net. I feel like I won the lottery there...

[SteveStromberg]

What size was the one that came out?
If it is the standard size.
Call around to VW repair shops in your area.
You need a VW Diesel rabbit exhust Stud .
The Stud has a raised area that looks like a bell on the Stud.
Run a 9mm tap in to the stud hole tapping it for 9mm.
Then insert Rabbit Stud.
The raised area will keep you from stripping it out as you tighten it up.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Yup, that's also an option--thanks for pointing that out! A VW specialty shop will have several different "step-down" studs; 9mm/8mm, 10mm/8mm, and possibly more.

--DD

[bowlsby]

So the 2.0L hreads are HTF and big $$$$.

The 1.7 and 1.8L heads are common and cheap.

What would be wrong with putting 1.7/1.8L heads on a 2.0 if you were in a bind?

I know there are issues including:

2.0 tin doesnt fit the 1.7L heads, and the 3 bolt runners wont fit the 3 bolt heads, and there would be a power loss...but are the drawbacks minimal if there are no other options? If this were an option I would think it might save some from doing full out engine conversions.

???

[bd1308]

yeah man i am feeling that.... i'll give the VW friend a call too. like i said before he was looking for a used head...cost just has to be fair...seems like I should repair the stud rather then getting whole new head? Is this a pro thing or do you think a Mechanical Engineering major could tackle this one or i could just take it out and hook up my scratch-built steam engine to it

[bd1308]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7947575523&category=33617 what about these beautiful things? OOOOooOOooOooOOoo......

[Alfred1]

FedEx might be able to get the heads to Len Hoffman in Athens GA and back to you for less than $80.

[Scooter311]

"Yeah, what they said"

pull the head and fix the stud - amazingly easy - trust me, if I (dumb guy and hack) can rebuild a motor and have it work well afterwards, then most certainly you can do this.

hey bowlsby, arent the 2.0 chambers wider than the 1.7/1.8 cyl diameters? Would that matter?

[bd1308]

AAAh scooter you are making me want to drop and re-build my engine....I guess I could file that under summer projects. if it's not hard to drop the engine i could do it!!

[Flyfish]

Drop the engine, its a right of passage. After you do it once you'll be able to do it in a few hours or less. See the tech article on the Pelican site "engine drop made easy"
Jim

[Scooter311]

-clanging pots and pans loudly, shouting-

DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT

Seriously, I did it last winter, by myself, in the garage, with a stomach flu, and throwing up ( I was bored from sitting in the house doing nothing).
I've had it out THREE times since then, with very little help except to hold things up or at least stand there with 911 on speed dial in case of an emergency.

[bowlsby]

arent the 2.0 chambers wider than the 1.7/1.8 cyl diameters? Would that matter?

Nothing a machine shop could not resolve. Heads are bored out all the time. 1.7L tim and intake runnes are cheap and available.

I sometimes ask myself what I would do when our supply of 2.0L heads runs out. Swap engines? To what? Flat 6-V8-Soobie-1.8T...? All those options are commona dn expensive if not in money...then time.

So I wonder if when just the heads are the problem, if in a pinch, we could start using all those 1.7/1.8L heads? Thats why I asked...