A moment of excitement.

[TJ 450]

I finally got the 450 heads back today.

I have ended up with a pair of 1977 Euro heads, without air injection ports.

All new valves on the LHS, new guides, new stem seals all round and valves lapped. Additionally, I was supplied with new exhaust studs/nuts, and they cleaned the lifters for me, checking their functionality.

This came in at the unforseen cost of $1600AUD, certainly not what I had envisaged when I snapped the exhaust studs trying to adjust the maxed out steering box.

Nevertheless, the quality of these heads is remarkable.

Unfortunately, I don't feel like unwrapping them just yet. I still need the head gasket sets.

Pics...

L: Old; R: New:


Old, Rot:


New;


New;


New Valves;


New Studs and Nuts;


Tim

[Big_Richard]

nice

did you by chance ask if they know anything about 6.9 heads ?

wouldnt mind pulling mine for refurb (after my interior goes back together, if it ever does)

[s class]

Very nice TJ.  Certainly expensive, but hopefully the workmanship matches the price.

[TJ 450]

I didn't ask, but they were recommended by Walter. Apparently they do MB heads frequently.

They do take the "we would rather do the lot to make sure it's done properly" approach though, and I won't complain about that.

So far, I'm very impressed with the workmanship... it's probably about as good as you would get.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

re the new heads, do they have new guides and valve seats installed ?

are they genuine or custom fabricated ??

if custom made,  a set of 6.9 heads shouldnt in theory cost any more to refurbish, assuming all valves are ok.

[oscar]

Nice rug man  


I think I've missed something.  Did they work on the old ones too or just transplant some of the works to the new ones?  Despite that corrosion the old ones look nearly as clean as the new ones.

[nathan]

1600 - oh snap! das is expensive! im not sure whether to congratulate u or commiserate u
u can now never sell whitey - you would be crazy!

[WGB]

Looks absolutely spectacular.

[TJ 450]

re the new heads, do they have new guides and valve seats installed ?

are they genuine or custom fabricated ??

if custom made,  a set of 6.9 heads shouldnt in theory cost any more to refurbish, assuming all valves are ok.

The guides are all new, but I never asked them whether or not they made them in house. The valves are genuine, as they already had one head from a previous customer that never followed through. The other head was sourced from "my German friend", whom I would imagine to be Klaus. The valve seats were not replaced, and it is not normally required.

The biggest issue with these heads is corrosion... the old heads may not look too bad, but the corrosion is apparently not economical to repair. An M-100 head would be a different story as far as economics are concerned, though. I won't be throwing out the old ones though, there will be a time when such things are needed.

I think to play it safe, one would have to assume that the heads are rotten before removal. Speaking to these guys about the issue, it appears to be more than common on MBs with chequered maintenance history. They also warned against using anything but MB coolant with distilled water.  

Lucky the heads from my W126 are in sound condition.

Tim

[TJ 450]

1600 - oh snap! das is expensive! im not sure whether to congratulate u or commiserate u
u can now never sell whitey - you would be crazy!

Sounds like a reasonable quandary.

I don't know about never selling, but there are a number of reasons why I need to keep that car for a while yet anyhow.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

i bet its in the quokka as soon as the heads are bolted on 

[TJ 450]

MT, I think you know my thought patterns too well.

However, that's not going to happen.

Tim

[SELfor50]

They look great TJ.

I'm with Oscar, it's weird seeing the old one's, cause they look like they're pretty good nic too - minus the corrosion.

1600 is a fair whack, but like you said - better of paying for it all together rather than doing different things through different people and not getting a consistant level of workmanship.

Looks like they're ready to go off to the engineering shop for some porting & polishing.