Hey guys, recently took the head off my ke55 as the oil was very milky and as suspected the head gasket was shot. Now the block appears to be fine but I'm not so sure about the head. one of the water galleries seems pretty corroded and there seems to be a kind of rough / indented spot on the head that isnt the gasket. Ive got some pictures and just wondering if this head could be fixed up or if id be better off just getting a new head

get the head re-faced, they take a tiny amount off until it is flat (usually 20 thou)

the corrosion is normal on any old engine, my 4age one is worse than yours

 

just get the head skimmed and it should be good, also don't forget to remove all of the old gasket from the block and sand it was a very fine (240+ grit) sand paper to make sure that its a nice face to bond with

Thanks for that, i figured i could get the head refaced but was worried about the corrosion. Cheers

That corrosion should be fine. You'd be hard pressed to find a head without it.

 

Always run coolant, not Water.

 

As for cleaning the faces, go get the Gasket Stripper spray stuff from repco etc. It's very very useful. Spray on, leave for 10 minutes and come back and the stuff turns to good and easily scrapes/wipes off. A paint scraper will help.

 

Be cautious sanding the deck, all those fine metallic shavings will end up in bores and water jackets.

That corrosion should be fine. You'd be hard pressed to find a head without it.

 

Always run coolant, not Water.

 

As for cleaning the faces, go get the Gasket Stripper spray stuff from repco etc. It's very very useful. Spray on, leave for 10 minutes and come back and the stuff turns to good and easily scrapes/wipes off. A paint scraper will help.

 

Be cautious sanding the deck, all those fine metallic shavings will end up in bores and water jackets.

 

Cheers I've heard that stuff is good ill have to look into it.

 

How much would you guys reccomend getting taken off the head? Car will be stock for a while but plan to upgrade carb / cam etc to something mild in future

well i don't know much about this but ive heard people doing 40 though to gain compression

i think 60 thou is max with 4k head

correct me if I'm wrong

seen a head shaved so much that it started getting in the spark plug thread

 

go 60 thou don't be soft

So say I got 40 thou shaved off the head could I still use the std head bolts? And anyone have a ballpark figure on how much that'd increase compression? (Sorry for the noob qs)

All I can say is that you're opening up a pandora's box of stupid answers and crazy theories.

 

You will be able to use the stock head bolts.

 

Let the engine builder tell you what it needs shaved off. I had mine touched up and they took a few thou, it probably didn't really need it. If he's worried about too much comp, he will knock a bit out of the combustion chambers to compensate.

 

If you really want to up the compression then ask him about what you can get away with.

Edited September 10, 200917 yr by philbey