spanky

I removed the cylinder head frm my 968 that has been sitting parked in my garage unused for the past 2 yrs due to 0 compression in # 3 cylinder. Here is what I found ; Original head gasket in vary bad shape, 1 badly chipped, burned valve out of 16( # 3 Cyclinder), everything else in very good shape.
I am soooo relieved!!! I feared the worst when my leak down test indicated 0 compression 2 yrs ago, my 1st thought was : O ****; bottom end damage, what now!!!
I will admit I got kinda depressed about this car , covered it up and just walked away from it. I never even removed the car cover again until 3 weeks ago. It became a very large storage shelf in the garage.
I am replacing the bad exh valve, preform a valve grind on the 15 other valves, replace all springs with new springs, replace the chain and its Teflon saddle,replace all vacuum hoses ,surface the head and reinstall.
Guys, am I missing anything?? Thanks in advance.

spanky

More pics from the 968 head refresh / rebuild.

V2Rocket

You should replace the valve guides and stem seals while you're in there.

Boeing 717

That's great, keep the pics coming.

spanky

valve guides, valve stem seals, Ditto!!! thanks

V2Rocket

Since you just need a typical valve job/guide replacement any shop that does DOHC cylinder heads (of any type) should be able to handle it for $500 or less.
There is nothing "special" about a 968 head in terms of rebuilding one so if anybody wants to charge higher than that "cuz it's a Porch" keep walking...

spanky

The machine shop should be contacting me today with a cost esti..

spanky

Startibg to reassemble the head , lapping the valves. new seals & seats installed. Head face machined.

sm

Hi Spanky - any updates? Did you use the factory blocks at cylinders 1 and 3 to hold down the camshafts prior to removing the girdles at cylinders 2 and 4?

Where are you located and who did the head refresh work for you? Thanks!

V2Rocket

get some razor blades, green scotch brite, WD40 and brake cleaner...
clean up the block gasket mating surface really well, get all that residue off. there will inevitably be "stained metal" that is darker but all remnants of old gasket need to come off and leave smooth clean aluminum.

razor blades (carefully) for the big stuff, dry scotch brite for the small stuff, WD40'd scotch brite for finish smoothing, brake cleaner + rag to wipe it all clean/degrease.

sm

V2Rocket

cant say for spanky but i've done a lot of 944S/S2/968 head gasket jobs, the factory blocks are a nice convenience but definitely not necessary.

just break each cam bearing cap loose a little bit, move your wrench around while doing it (follow the firing order, 1-3-4-2, rather than going 1234 in order) to try and minimize any "bending stress" on the very brittle camshaft.

loosen the screws evenly, the cam will move a bit as the springs uncompress, remove all but 1 of the caps, grab the cam with one hand and then undo the last cap so there's no chance of the cam falling out.

sm

I'm removing my 968 head with the motor in the car. Can I remove the head-to-exhaust header nuts, and "push" the headers to the passenger side to clear the exhaust studs? Is there enough give in the exhaust system to do that, so I can just lift the head up? I don't have access to the bottom of the car to get to the triangle flanges. The car is parked in the yard right now

Also, do you use new nuts for the studs that hold down the head to the block?

RajDatta

Or you can remove the head with the headers on, just disconnect the section going to the cat. Much easier this way.

odurandina

cylinder head refresh...... serpentine refresh..... ps refresh.....
steering rack refresh..... suspension bushing and motor mount refresh.....
rear deck lid/latch/pin refresh aye these endless refreshes,