I had planned to do this but the seating surface of the valves looked really good. By this time I was so dirty and stopping everything to clean up and go buy lapping compound just wasn't going to happen. It may come back to bite me but I'm crossing my fingers.

I found it on Craig's List advertised for $1,200. I went to look at it and it was pretty much a piece of crap. The sunroof wouldn't lock down, the driver's window was off the track, and there was lots of water in the car. The only good thing was the body had no damage. It didn't really want the car since I still have an unfinished 914 project so I told the guy I would give him $500. I was shocked when he said yes.

excellent find i would def have picked it up for that price

77, God bless you Jack Russell, you make me feel like a 51 yr old pussy, so I won't even complain about the discomfort or aches and pains of working on my '44s, but I do believe that you have to keep on keeping on, and these cars provide all the excercise we need, haha. Keep up the good work.

JR --

If I am still breathing at 77 I will be happy. Good for you.

Sir you are blessed with a strong body and sound mind to be lying on your back under the dash. You must be in very good shape. Do you mind sharing your secret?
At a younger age than you are, I already invested on a lift to take care of my back and knees as I don't want my quality of life to suffer when I get to your age.
Be safe!

LOL, it's true, at 51 I sometimes think I'm too old just for getting in and out of the driver's seat

Hey, man, don't talk like that! I know that would practically be the end of life itself for me when that day finally comes and 50 is too early for that IMHO. I'm not even 25 yet, but time flies and sooner or later I'll be there, too...damn, would there even be any 944's left in 30 years?!? :confused: I'd keep mine that long except that the body would probably be all rusted out before then...a sad day that will be! Just have to make sure I get a good job and save some $$$ for that 944S2 or 968 I always wanted before they get too hard to find. In the mean time, drive on! ...and wrench on! ...and spend more $$$ to keep her on the road ...and crawl around on the ground getting free samples of what Brad Penn 20W-50 tastes like and the sore neck, back, head, etc. to round out the evening (nothing quite like a 1/2" drive ratchet falling squarely on your face, right :o ), and the butterflies right before the first startup ...and the test drive, and the pit in the stomach coming out of a familiar off ramp, at twice the posted speed limit of course! you know the drill... Oh...good times! That's the kind of stuff that makes a life memorable!

I know there's lots of other good stuff in life, too, but it takes some of everything to round it all out. :D

replace the head studs. cheap insurance.

LOL Im gonna be 27. I'LL bee happy if I make it to 50 let alone 77. Keep up the good work guys. Just think off all the money your saving by doing it yourself. The shop I work at gets $108 dollars a hour Labor.

amen to that. i've done three cyl head jobs. none were cheap, but tacking on labor would have at least doubled the cost.

OK, I totally bailed on day three. I was too tired and sore to continue. I had to work the following weekend and this past Saturday. I finally got back to it last night. Since I hadn't torqued down the head yet because I was missing some hardware I thought I should at least check the valves as suggested before. I popped the head off and filled the intake ports with fresh gasoline. Everything was completely dry so I wiped it off, put it back on the car and torqued it down properly. Since I didn't complete the project in my three day deadline I've scaled back my expectations. Tonight's goal is to get the exhaust studs back in and bolt up the manifolds.