cobraguy

I blew a head gasket on my 88 4X4 yesterday. Anyway I got the haed to a local machine shop. Dude there is saying the head is too thin and needs to be replaced. This is my first time dealing with this shop so I don't know their business ethics. My old place closed. The engine did get hot but not enough to melt the "tattle tale". I need a thickness spec and where its measured to see if dude is blowing smoke or on the level.

osv

why do you think his ethics are questionable? he turned down money, when he refused to mill the head.

you can get a new head shipped to your door for $550 or less, depending on what options you want... engnbldr.com ...brand new bare heads somewhere around $300 at local parts stores.

snobdds

OEM head gaskets are thinner than aftermarket. Aftermarket heads gaskets are thicker because they assume some milling of the head will happen and the extra thickness will make up for some of that lost material. What the actual numbers are I don't know...I just know the theory.

I do know the maximum amount to shave a head is .020'...after that the compression and the timing is too far off and will affect the performance of the engine.

cobraguy

I went in to pick up my haed and had a chat with them. He would prefer to sell me a new aftermarket head and I love to buy one. If only that money tree would blosom in $100 bills. The machine shop guy wanted to lightly skim it just to get the surface perfect. He showed me the spec in his book and the head is indeed .003" under. But it's flat and passed a pressure check. I dragged a 10" lapping block over it to knockdown any high spots and am going to run it. If it blows down the road I'm only out the gaskets and some time.