torrey garrison

Bought a 951. On the drive home it overheated and liquid locked the motor. So now I'm off to replace the head gasket and have the head gone through. My questions is this. Are there simple things that need to be done or can be done to the head that would help in horsepower? I'm not talking racing. I'm just asking minor cheap things that can be done.

Or while the head is pulled I should do?

Thank you in advance

refresh951

Describe liquid lock. If you mean hydrolock, this can cause other damage, in particular cracked cylinder. What exactly happened?

torrey garrison

Riding down the road and the heater control valve blew apart. All coolant poured out and I pulled off. I guess I went further than I thought. Over heated and locked up. I am talking to the mechanic again tomorrow but the initial thought is that it's just the head gasket and up. Hoping.

refresh951

Sorry to hear. I would pull the spark plugs and see if it turns over. So you pulled over and then tried to turn over the motor with the starter?

torrey garrison

The mechanic pulled the plugs. It turned over and shot antifreeze out #4. It's a long story. Haha. No I fixed the broken piece and upon trying to prime the coolant it made an interesting sound and that was that.

rlm328

Head gasket, hopefully you did not score the cylinder due washing the oil off the walls. You will want to take a close look at the #4 valves to make sure you didn't bend them. I assume you were running the engine when you locked it up?

torrey garrison

No I believe the damage came after the car was stopped and not having fluid on top of the engine. It ran up to the point of trying to restart it.

Van

Can you clarify: was the engine running and you turned it off with the key? Or did the engine just abruptly stop by itself?

If it was the former, fixing the head gasket may work. If it was the latter, it could have bent a connecting rod.

s14kev

If it truly hydrolocked you probably have a con rod bent like a bananna. Measure and compare piston crown height when the head is off.

lee101315

Yea....If your engine stalled because water filled up the cylinder, youre gonna have a bad time.

At least a bent rod, I myself cracked an entire cylinder driving through a deep puddle with a "cold water intake" when I was a dumb teenager.

Either way, driving and overheating the engine until water entered the cylinder and hydro locked a sign of extreme NEGLECT on your part. I wouldnt be surprised if most of the engine was deemed unusable after your mechanic takes it apart, the lessons you never forget are the expensive ones. Best of luck, if by some miracle everything turns out ok, just be a little more careful....

Ronin-951

A 944 NA Head will add a bit of Compression, but you need to keep the 951 Valves, at least the Exhaust, as their Sodium Filled for heat dissipation. NA Cam is also a bit hotter than the 951 version. Steam Vent Kit for Cyl #4 is nice for Racing, as there's a pocket that can trap Air in the Head, - these Engine's can be troublesome to bleed. Fly Cut Pistons can save the Valve's if the Timing Belt lets go. Horsepower with forced induction is first limited by the Headgasket, a 'WideFire' Gasket will let you add a few pounds, 'crazy' needs a Deck Plate for the open deck Cylinders to stop movement. Most anything you do will need a corresponding change to the DME Chipset to make it work correctly.
All in all, go big or stay home. Best quote ever for the 951 is 'Reliability is inversely proportional to modification'

Carlsbergas

Up to what ammount of pressure is widefire headgasket good? Im running 16-17psi right now with widefire, rogue a-tune, 72lb injectors, and big *** turbonetics turbo <--- no idea about the model of that turbo just that it has 70mm inducer

Van

There is no compression difference between the NA and turbo heads, but rather the pistons.

if you fly cut the pistons, you will reduce compression - thus reduce power.

I really doubt a widefire head gasket can "hold a few more pounds" of boost.

But, I do agree that any change you make, other than a LBE, will need a chip modification. And the reliability quote is absolutely true!

torrey garrison

First thank you for all the responses.

Second. It wasn't neglect. I bought the car and two hours into the drive back the heater control valve exploded. It overheated before I figured out what happened.

Third. I did cut the key off. After fixing the valve I tried to restart. It wouldn't.

odurandina

sorry to hear.

V8 time.