Abnormal

Hi, I have a 22re head that I sent to the machine shop to get hot tanked and checked. They said everything looks good and the head has a flat surface, so resurfacing is not needed. Ive researched a lot and I have found mixed feeling about not resurfacing a head whenever its removed. Some say to always resurface a head no matter what and others say, as long as it was checked then your good to go. In other words should I go ahead and take the head back to get resurface or will I be ok with the way it is? Sorry for the newb question. I just want to make sure I dont have any problems down the road since this is my daily. Also, the only reason for removing the head was to change timing chain for maintenance... Thank you in advance!

peow130

Didnt resurface mine, just used a light scuffing on the block with 150 grit sandpaper, and made sure to coompletely get rid of all of the gasket on the head. Theres a reason that the gasket exists.

thook

I never understood that philosophy of getting it resurfaced "for peace of mind". Whatever. The point of resurfacing is to make it flat, again. But, if it's already flat, what's the point? Really, it's just a waste of time and money to do it if it doesn't need it.

BMcEL

Also keep in mind heads can only be resurfaced so many times. If the machine shop says it's flat I'd take their word for it.

Abnormal

Thank you all for the replys.... Im leaning towards trusting my shop and just slapping the head on. If anyone else has any other insight to this, please let me know. Ill be installing my head this weekend. Thank you again for all the advice that was given

rworegon

If the machine shop says it's flat and in good shape you're probably good to go. Take a look a the surface yourself.....is there anything visible that would cause you concern such as pitting, scratches, etc? If not, I'd put it back together after cleaning the block surface super good.

thook

What other insight do you need, man? So far, everything that can be said about it has been said about it. The only thing I can see holding you back is trusting what's been said by everyone that's posted. If you're afraid of something going wrong because you didn't resurface it, have it resurfaced. I'd like to see the look on the machinist's face. Of course, the shop probably won't mind taking your money, either....

Abnormal

Your right, I dont know what I was thinking. Glad to know that I was able to save a couple of bucks and I can now get back to putting everything back together. I appreciate everyones help.

Turd Furgeson

If it's just "resurfacing" and not shaving a signifigant amount of material off of it,then I'd say do it so you have a nice,smooth,new sealing surface. And if they "hot tanked it" I would hope they didn't put it in a typical hot tank because typical hot tanks use caustic soda as the cleaning agent. Caustic soda eats aluminum,especially if it's mixed to a strong solution (which does the best cleaning). I'd ask them if they really did hot tank it,and what kind of solution they use in they're hot tank. Maybe they have a hot tank with an aluminum safe cleaning agent in it,or they told you they hot tanked it (because that's what most people want to hear when they have stuff cleaned at a machine shop),or they just said that and cleaned it some other way.

Abnormal

I asked the machinest before doing the cleaning. He said he has a tank specifically for aluminum heads. He said he is well aware of what damages can occur on a aluminum head if the wrong method of cleaning was established, so Im good on that part.Thanks for the heads up

thook

I'm really not trying to be a prick about this, dude. But, what's not "smooth" about the mating surface IF it's flat and has no pitting or scoring? Afterall, the surface of the head itself does not seal. That's the job of the gasket. All that need be for the mating surface of the head is that, again, it's flat/not warped so that even pressure is on the gasket when mated to the block (that also should be perfectly flat with no pitting or scoring) and there's no marring that the gasket cannot seal or fill into. Resurfacing the head, when it doesn't need to be done, is not going to make any difference on how well the gasket is able to seal.

abecedarian

so we've established the head is flat.

what about the block?

Abnormal

Block seems good, doing a little clean up and i should be done by the end of next week

skypilot

iTrader: (1)

Do yourself a favor;

Put in a head stub kit from ARB. Torque it in according to directions and save yourself any doubt.