4drEF

Oh - and if you go ahead with buying the new head check out how they have it stored.
If it's sitting upside down then that's a good sign.
If they sit it valve cover up on a table or the ground then just walk away. Run if you have to.

Valves do not retract into the head so sitting the valve cover up means the valves are carrying the weight of the head - not the flat surface of the head.
Very easy bend a valve, damage the face, or push it out of lash tolerance.

I think you should really consider tearing the head you have down. If you can replace the head then repair it should be a piece of cake. You only need a torque wrench (you have that already if you replace heads), standard open/closed end wrenches, and some angled feeler gages to set valve lash, and a couple blocks of wood (to set the flat side of the head on to keep it raised up so the valves don't get damaged).

G. Man

Thanks for the advice. I went and looked at the other head, and it was in way better condition. Well taken care of. When I pulled the valve cover off, it didn't look like it was ran forever on the same oil. I got it for 65 bucks, and am very pleased. After I swap heads and get my car back to normal, I will tear down this other head and rebuild it for a spare. Maybe I'll do the one that's on the car now too, and sell one of em or something. Thanks again for taking the time to post on this thread everyone!!! I'll probably be back with some more questions when I tear these heads down lol.

I love Hatchbacks and wagovans, and you'll def. see me on here some more. I'm on my 6th Honda, and 5 of those have been in the last year. lol. '87 integra, '82 civic cvcc 1300, '89 wagovan, 91 civic hatch, 93 civic with b18c1 turbonetics t66 greddy profec b digital boost control magnaflow exhaust hks blow off 650 cc RC injectors roto wheels 380 h.p. and now this 90 wagovan. All of which have been daily drivers haha.