I just bought this 1st-gen B16A head on eBay. It showed up today at work...

The box was ripped open around this combustion chamber and other areas, and there was no padding on the bottom of the head. It looks like there was some damage to the combustion chamber and someone started to clean it up.

The head was described in the auction as "looks brand new", glass-beaded, valves back cut, new seals, 3-angle valve job, resurface.

So, fellow H-T members: I need your opinions, expert and otherwise, about how this damage will affect my engine. I have heard about imperfections in combustion chamber surface leading to detonation.

Is detonation something to worry about with this kind of damage? I am not a conflict-loving person so if the head looks safe then I will just use it and let the drama go.

NEW PICS

Thanks for your advice.







CC#3, not as bad as #1


CC#1, the best of the bunch


CC#2. Weird marks around the spark plug hole, but it looks about the same as #1.


A couple of other things....

One sweet bent exhaust manifold stud


Awesome packing job guys. Nothing under the deck but cardboard and air.

The only pic I haven't posted is the one of the bumper stickers they sent with it, because they show the name and website of the machine shop that sold me the head. Still waiting.



Modified by jungletronic at 1:51 PM 12/15/2006

 

I wouldn't use it...

Was the package insured?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C_EJ8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I wouldn't use it...

Was the package insured? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Good question; I have yet to hear back from the seller.

It looks like it was this way before it got shipped. The surface of the head looks way too nice compared to the CC right next to it. I could be wrong.

 

Is the damage relegated to the chamber, or is it on the deck surface as well?

Pic isnt all too great, but depending on how deep those knicks are, that could real easily be cleaned up by a skilled hand for im guessing, not much money. Essentially you just need chamber work, which is good for performance anyway. Youre correct in that sharp spots in the chamber promote detonation.

 

The damage in this area is only in the combustion chamber, not on the deck surface. I still haven't taken it out of the box. This picture is just what I could see through the giant hole in the box. Tomorrow I'll take better pics.

 

Shouldnt be too difficult to fix. I dont know FL geography very well, but you might want to contact DonF on this board, he will probably be able to help you and he's in FL, too.

 

in the cc it looks like someone melted a piston and the heads got a little bit of that piston on it.. just my .02 not an expert with heads

 

DonF is right here in town....if the seller won't make it right then I will definitely see if he can help me. I've heard good things about his work.

 

Looks like the burrs in the CC could be polished out without too much trouble. If the valves and seats are ok then it should work fine. It does seem odd that the CC is damaged but the deck surface is not. Good luck.

 

take a dremel and a wire brush adapter to it and call it a day... just take car of the sharp edges.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PirateMcFred &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Looks like the burrs in the CC could be polished out without too much trouble. If the valves and seats are ok then it should work fine. It does seem odd that the CC is damaged but the deck surface is not. Good luck.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I can almost garuntee that that damage was acrued (sp) before the item was shipped. Like was stated previously, take it to DonF. If he's backed up or busy, and you want to ship it, i could take care of it for you as well.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Player5530 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">take a dremel and a wire brush adapter to it and call it a day... just take car of the sharp edges.</TD></TR></TABLE>

please dont do this yourself unless you have experience with cylinder heads. The edges of the chamber can easily 'grab' your grinder/dremel and spin it onto the deck surface if youre hand isnt steady.

 

The seller finally wrote me back...

This is what he had to say.

(QUOTE
"Lucas, wow I cannot believe the head is not broke in half given the shape the box is in. The head was packed with padding on top and extra cardboard on the bottom which appears to be gone. I received a crank today that was half out of the box. Must be the extra part time help at UPS this time of year. The head is fresh and is rebuilt completely. I guess my internet guy did get a little misleading with the looks like new. He was refering to the exterior as must heads up hear look all white and chalkey from winter driving.

The head core was from a motor that melted a piston and the debris did mar the surface in a few places as you can see. Usually we just smooth it off slightly and as long as there is no seat damage do a little polishing, mill and valve job and have no problems. Polishing the marks out completely would change the cc of the combustion chamber far to much to make that a desireable cosmetic fix. You could weld up the combustion chamber but by the time you replaced the seats and remachined the chamber you would have more in the head than it is worth.

I apologize for not describing the combustion chambers better and will refund your money if you would like to return the head. If you would like to keep the head I will still give you a 100.00 refund. Let me know what you would like to do."
(END QUOTE)

I'm thinking this head has the potential to cost me more than $100 to get it fixed, especially after reading this guy's email about how much work it would have been to fix it the right way before selling it. Jeez.

 

I don’t think than it will cost you more that 100 to get fixed. Decking the head is $100 at the machine shop I go to and this does not require a cnc machine to fix. I would smooth it out my self and like "Combustion Contraption" said make sure your hand is steady.
I just used a dremel and a wire adapter on my head when I pulled it off (for cleaning purposes) and I had no problems.

 

this guy lives within 15 minutes of DFE.

 

That Head is definatlely repairable with a bit of chamber work. It looks like the damage was caused by debris from a badly detonated spark plug.

 

Thanks to everyone who responded so far. Still no word back from the seller