Rebuilding cylinder head - NOW WITH PICS

mcscrew said

Paul - which assembly lube did you use on your head rebuild, and where did you buy it from?

Also, did you get your valve stem seals from VW or GSF, or somewhere else?

I'm about to rebuild my 1.6 8v head this week, and want to get it right first time (I hope!)

Cheers

Rich

Hey Rich, I did the same to my 1.6 recently and the seals from ecp didn't fit properly (presume gsf ones will be the same?). The seals wouldn't sit inside the lower spring plates. Got some from vw and no problems… They do cost a fair bit though. Something like ?16 for 8 (you do get a nice plastic sleeve to protect the seals!) rather than the ?4 from ecp…

HTH

woZa said

mcscrew said

Paul - which assembly lube did you use on your head rebuild, and where did you buy it from?

Also, did you get your valve stem seals from VW or GSF, or somewhere else?

I'm about to rebuild my 1.6 8v head this week, and want to get it right first time (I hope!)

Cheers

Rich

Hey Rich, I did the same to my 1.6 recently and the seals from ecp didn't fit properly (presume gsf ones will be the same?). The seals wouldn't sit inside the lower spring plates. Got some from vw and no problems… They do cost a fair bit though. Something like ?16 for 8 (you do get a nice plastic sleeve to protect the seals!) rather than the ?4 from ecp…

HTH

I missed out on that kin of fun, I did mine during my "boycott ECP" era. Maybe its worthy of an extension, given your experiences woZa!

Why is that paul? I have found my local one in Sheffield great - apart from the stem seals not fitting!

Order some bits this morning and they were here by 3pm…

woZa said

Why is that paul? I have found my local one in Sheffield great - apart from the stem seals not fitting!

Order some bits this morning and they were here by 3pm…

It got to the stage they were supplying around 50% of the parts I'd ordered, either late or incorrectly. I was ordering lots and lots of stuff at the time, since I was right in the middle of the engine conversion/refeshing the front end. You don't want to hear about the "mirror saga" either!

Ah I think I read about the mirrors on another thread. Kept folding in at over 50 mph? I had a similar problem with mine (genuine hagus ones) but I just cranked up the screws inside and they have been fine since.

I guess it is down to luck of the draw and whether your local guys are any good. Luckily mine are - not dealt mail order with them though as the store is only 2 mins from my house…

Cool - thanks for the advice guys

I will get the seals from VW just in case, as I've got to have them fitted by the end of the week so can't afford some that don't fit…

I'm still undecided about ECP and GSF - ECP sold me a rather rough pattern exhaust manifold for my pug, and every time I go to GSF they give me the wrong part for one or two items (last time they gave me two nearside brake cylinders)… I guess you get what you pay for…

One final question while I'm here - where did you get your tool for the cylinder head bolts from? I tried my local tool supplier but no joy…

Thanks

Rich

Halfords… The only thing I ever buy from there is their tools… Good quality & decent price in my opinion (unlike most of their other stuff!)

Curses! I was there earlier today, buying some spring compressors. I have to agree that their tools are very much worth buying, like you say…

I will be back tomorrow I've no doubt!

Cheers

Rich