I got good head today!!

[AceInHole]

1991 S13 DOHC head!!

http://www.engr.uconn.edu/~corrales/240/head_box.jpg

http://www.engr.uconn.edu/~corrales/240/head_jytag.jpg

http://www.engr.uconn.edu/~corrales/240/head_valvetrain.jpg

Gotta pull the timing chain cover off and inspect the guides a bit closer. I took a quick look at the top one and there didn't seem to be any wear.... could this car have had a better tensioner than the one on my '95??

Anyways... I'm taking the sucker up to my aptartment tonight and I'll most likely spend the entire night cleaning and prepping the head... checking the head for flatness, and possibly replacing the valve seals (they're supposed to arrive today, but I've gotta leave soon for hockey practice and apparently they can't leave the package without someone to sign for it...). If I have some spare time than I might actually be able to get some simple port/ polishing done :D

For those of you who are wondering why I'm so excited about backdating to an older head:
1. My stock head is f**ked
2. DOHC S13 cams were "hotter"
3. Without a "new" head, my car is non-functional
4. I just came off a 6psi boosting spree of joy, only to f**k my head up and disable my car.... untill this weekend :D

[DarkRaptor42]

Ace your an inspiration to us all..... not to drill into our heads :)

Thats cool man you got a 91. Sweet. You changing the intake mani too? Tell me how it goes cause it looks like im gonna be redoing my seals soon too.

[Titan]

How did you mess up your head boosting at 6 psi?

Did you blow the head gasket and overheat?

[DarkRaptor42]

he drilled into it by accident.

[d240t2]

You know...you need to check...S13 and S14 heads are different, and IIRC, you need to drill at least one hole in the block to bolt the S13 head onto an S14 motor. Also, you'll need to use the valve cover that matches your head.

Dennis

[240racer]

I got that head too, it's awesome

[kandyflip445]

HAHAHAHA....well just don't drill into that one...love the title too.:p

[AceInHole]

Originally posted by d240t2
You know...you need to check...S13 and S14 heads are different, and IIRC, you need to drill at least one hole in the block to bolt the S13 head onto an S14 motor. Also, you'll need to use the valve cover that matches your head.

Dennis

As you can see in the pics.... I have the S13 valve cover with the head. Also, I'm told the S13 head will swap onto the S14 block and vice versa with not troubles, the only differences being the valve cover. The head gaskets for both heads are the same, so that's partial evidence to support the swap-a-bility.

News on the head:
It sucks... the guys at the junkyard must've unbolted the cams in an incorrect pattern, because the intake cam is snapped at the sprocket end. The head is supposed to be warrantied though, so I'm gonna go back eventually and try and talk my way into a new one.... maybe try out the altima cams (read that from the 240sx.org FAQ)??
Also, I took a closer look at both chain guides and they're in better condition than the ones on my original head... so that's a good sign. There are markings on the sprockets so I'm thinking the timing chain was fixed in the past, which might be a reason the guides aren't overly worn.

Anyways.... perhaps I should do a bit more research about the head swap?? The thought of having to tap the block doesn't seem so good.... but I'm 99% sure I won't need to.

[AceInHole]

Originally posted by DarkRaptor42
Ace your an inspiration to us all..... not to drill into our heads :)

Thats cool man you got a 91. Sweet. You changing the intake mani too? Tell me how it goes cause it looks like im gonna be redoing my seals soon too.

Heh... I drilled waaay too far in. Had so much pressure on the drill since I was going into hard steel (the stud) that when it slipped onto the aluminum it went in that fast (like a good inch). Really sucked.....

As for the intake mani... I only got the head from the S13... keeping the S14 intake since they didn't give me an S13 one to go with it...

[DarkRaptor42]

thats the best way to go.

[Natty]

You messe dyour car up already? Man, I missed that thread.
Anyways, have fun with it. As far as I am concerned, 91 head is the best head :p
You truely are an inspiration to us all, or somthing... :D
Jeff

[AceInHole]

Originally posted by Natty
You messe dyour car up already? Man, I missed that thread.
Anyways, have fun with it. As far as I am concerned, 91 head is the best head :p
You truely are an inspiration to us all, or somthing... :D
Jeff

Yeah.... an inspiration telling you guys to NOT RUSH ANYTHING when working on your car... or you end up like me having to "upgrade" earlier than expected :p

In case you're still wondering, I took a drill and made a hole in my engine right into a waterjacket, causing my engine to **** massive amounts of coolant while running. The hole is un-pluggable due to its location half on a manifold stud and so low on the head (at the very bottom the threads to the stud I tried to plug the hole with stick out).

Going to sears now to get a dremel and start a DIY head porting job. be back later with pics.

[95Blue240sx]

if your port/polishing the head dont you need each valve the same size? if ones too big/small you will get more/not enough air? i was reading about that somewhere i dunno?

maybe i missed the thread. why were you drilling the head?

[AceInHole]

Originally posted by 95Blue240sx
if your port/polishing the head dont you need each valve the same size? if ones too big/small you will get more/not enough air? i was reading about that somewhere i dunno?

Well, i'm not doing anything major... just smoothing it out basically.


maybe i missed the thread. why were you drilling the head?
because I'm an idiot who can't get a broken stud out.

[AceInHole]

So... it turns out that this might be a '93 head with a port and valve job already on it, with a new timing chain tensioner/ guides, and less miles than the '91's odo indicated. The sucker is just in better shape as far as timing chain guide wear, and has some visible grind marks on one of the intake ports and a couple of the exhaust ports. The reason I think it might be a '93 head is that there's a big ass 93 written on the back of the head... (i'll post a pic of it with the next batch or pics after i clean some of the exhaust ports).

Here's one of the intake ports:
http://www.engr.uconn.edu/~corrales/240/valve_coating.JPG
Don't mind the WD-40 overspray sitting on the valves... but.. does anyone know if the stock valves had a coating like that on them??

Also, one of the grinding marks:
http://www.engr.uconn.edu/~corrales/240/someoneisgrinding.JPG

still cleaning the sucker... may take a while cause there's some residue on the exhaust ports.... still gotta break my dremel out for some touch-up work :p

[AceInHole]

heh... turns out since all the stock casting excess is still there the head is pretty much stock. so... i took the liberty of removing stuff that just wasn't meant to be there:
http://www.engr.uconn.edu/~corrales/240/port_compare.jpg
Tool used: variable speed dremel with 60grit sanding drums. I still need to polish it out a bit. I'll do that after matching the intake manifold though.

It's really nothing major... just took out the casting line you can see where two halves of a cast joined together. also ported around the edge a bit in preparation to port match it. the stock intake ports have a small hump along both upper sides of the triangle (the pic is upside down to how the head would normally sit) that I flattened out a bit too.

On the exhaust side there's a small lip that might restrict flow a bit, so I took the liberty of removing it in favor of a straighter exhaust path. I just have to port the manifold to match it now.

This stuff is actually pretty fun, so I'm looking into buying another head after I sell my damaged one, so that I can strip it apart completely and work the head over myself much more than I did this one.