Daniel5691

Hi !

1981 928s euro 5 spd CISKjet "79,000" on odometer

Engine running ok prior to removal,
removed for repair of a cam tower oil leak.

Now considering WYAIT tasks.

I am wondering if I have the budget
for a professional cylinder head refresh at this point.
I am only looking for a cost estimate range.

(best case worst case for a running engine)

No sexy race-engine upgrades needed lol.

Any input would be very greatly appreciated.

Thanks !!!!!
Have a great holiday weekend,

Dan

hacker-pschorr

I was recently looking into this too since I have a couple sets of heads that I want new guides installed, one of them is for a Mercedes 380.

I found this as a popular place for the Mercedes crowed....

http://www.mercedesengines.net/prodd...prod=380%2C450

GlenL

It all depends! New guides? New seats? New valves? Grind the valves? Lap the seats? Surface the bottom? Surface the top?

$200 to $800 per head. Make some phone calls. Ask if they do 944 heads as they're nearly identical and many more 944 heads are done.

RennPartsDirect

Dan-
Your avatar is getting out of control... hahahaha. So did you buy this one or are you just trying to figure out whether or not to pull the trigger?

Daniel5691

Hi Steven !!!
Supposedly (possibly, potentially, theoretically, plausibly) Mister Seller will let me know "in a few days" lol if $800 was enough.
So.... I'm trying to keep myself occupied by putting together some general budget figures,
and also by trying to annoy the living cotton out of Ryan by derping around with his avatar lol.
Dan

hacker-pschorr

You get what you pay for.

Some people think you simply press out / press in the guides and that's "it".

Then I watched Twin Turbo Todd finely polish and prep the guides before putting them in, hours just doing that.
Then he showed me a head "rebuilt" by someone else, a very reputable engine shop....that didn't even take the stickers off the guides before pressing them in.

Todd showed me under a high power magnifying glass, the sharp edge on a new guide that he "massages" down to limit the cutting done to the aluminum.

Any kind of machine work boils down to attention to detail, the better it is the more you pay.

If Todd agreed to rebuild a head for only $800 I'd take them all to him. Some will say his work is overkill, and they are probably correct, for the most part.....but if the shop makes one tiny mistake, how much is another head going to cost?

All that aside.....a shop that does a lot of the same heads over and over probably have a jig setup that will greatly speed up the process and might even have an automated way of prepping the valve in a similar way (Todd does everything by hand).

If such a shop exists for the 944/928 head, prices might not be so high and still be a quality job.

mark kibort

you pullled the engine for a cam tower leak?? wow! now that you have the engine out, i say, put a 5 litre under the heads!

otherwise, i think you just surface the heads on the bottom and check for seal for the valves.

Daniel5691

Hacker:

I need to apologize for some misunderstanding in this thread, all my fault....
The "Mister Seller $800" comment was a separate reply to Steven there about a local parts car that I offered $800 for and he was asking about. Sorry for the confusion.

Dan

Jim Devine

Quick test to check how well the valves are seating:
Heads on the bench level - chamber side up.
Put some soapy water in the chambers with valves closed - then blow shop air @ 175 psi into the ports- look for bubbles (leaks)
at 79k, assuming it had fairly regular oil changes & wasn't overheated you probably have a good chance it doesn't need anything- maybe just stem seals.

V2Rocket

Here in SoCal I've had 944 heads done (cleaned, valve guides/seals, valve job to seat better, surface decked) for between $250-$500 including parts.

So for a 928 figure $500-$1000 depending where you take them...full-line engine machine shop vs. more race-specialty place.

karl ruiter

You probably don't need to do anything except the surface for the cam tower. That is a good idea, I think, because in the past I have seen cam tower oil leaks being really hard to solve and had one cam tower off three or four times before getting it to stay fixed. But at some point soon your car is going to need guides. For me, I would do guides and a grind and would shop around to find someone good with a good price. $300? Having said that, 928s seem to chronically need guides, but the symptoms caused by slightly worn guides are not dramatic on this car. I would guess that if you really needed guides or a grind it would show up on a smog test first.

Jetdriver69

I bought the parts and a very well known speed shop in Houston did my heads for $400.

Of course, he gave me the cash and yeah I'm a retired military guy too discount.

gbgastowers

It may need some new valves and springs also.

LT Texan

I got my Euro S heads done for $250/head.

That did not include extras, like replacement valves for bent ones.