Finally pulled the head...

[Bugeye58]

The Neway cutters are handy little items. It's a bit tedious to do a three angle with them, though! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
I used to have one of the "clicker" type lappers, but went back to the stick.
I only do two or three heads a year, if that, but may look into the Goodson item.
Jeff

 

[mikespain]

I agreed that whether one does the final lapping by hand :-dobblestick or click clak with mecanized mode it is always best to make the final seating to ones prefeferance!

 

[Hap Waldrop]

The Neway cutters are handy little items. It's a bit tedious to do a three angle with them, though! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Jeff

Oh yeah, that T handle will put a whopper of a water blister on you thumb if use it alot, but I fiquire out using a 1/4" air ratchet with them works pretty well.

 

[PAUL161]

Hap, I have an old hand lapper. It has a crank on the side and it works very well. But I agree, that a TV set close by would add some comfort to the situation. I use the old stick and suction cup thingies for holding the tool box lid open. They work very well and don't scratch anything.

 

[wkilleffer]

A couple of friends recommended a different shop, so I took it there. The man who took it from me said that they've seen many MG heads over the years, and that the first thing they do is disassemble and magnaflux. He said I had stiffer valve springs than typical and asked if I raced the car. I told him no, but that it was rebuilt in a shop where the owners did alot of rallys and autocrosses.

He said they should be able to tell me something by the end of the week, and that this might cost less than $200, and maybe less than $175. While that's going on, I'm going to try to get the radiator recored.

 

[jlaird]

Sounds like they know what they are doing. That's always a nice feeling.

 

[wkilleffer]

The shop got the head apart and magnafluxed yesterday. They found no cracks, which means it's a reparable head. They said what they've seen thus far is that the exhaust valves, seals and guides are almost as good as new, but the intakes are in varying stages of bad to worse. They expect to have it done early next week.

 

[DrEntropy]

Three angle seats? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

 

[tony barnhill]

So, now the question is WHY? There's no reason to repair without knowing what might've caused the problem.

 

[wkilleffer]

So, now the question is WHY? There's no reason to repair without knowing what might've caused the problem.

Well, what do you think, Tony?

Think I ran it too lean for too long at some point, which could have caused the valve problems, and then overcompensated for the weak mixture, which caused all the coking in the cylinders.

Now, why the gasket blew, I don't know, but can guess that it wasn't helped by my not knowing that it was supposed to be retorqued after a certain number of miles. I get the feeling this has been building up for awhile.

 

[tony barnhill]

From here its hard to tell...I would think you'd have to run her awfully lean for a long time to do damage like you described - but, as I always say, "I'm not the best mechanic on the BBS."

 

[wkilleffer]

And there was a point where the carb shafts and bushings were leaking pretty badly. There are more than a few things that can go wrong. Looks like one of those expensive lessons we sometimes have to learn. But it could have been worse.

 

[wkilleffer]

Ok, head's done and home. They cleaned, magnafluxed, new valve guides, light resurface for cleanliness, and installed teflon valve seals. $255 tax and all.

They said they saw nothing that would indicate that I'd tuned the engine so far off as to cause damage. They said some of the materials used in the original rebuild seemed kind of cheap.

The radiator should be done tomorrow or Tuesday, and all it needed was a cleaning and soldering where the core and casing come together.

Now, it's time to order parts...

Thank you,
-Bill

 

[DrEntropy]

AWRIGHT!!!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif