Should I replace my heads

[phat-ass]

So, I've recently finally gotten down to tearing apart the 1972 Type 4 motor that I've been sitting on for months. Turns out I had the end of a pushrod get destroyed, but I haven't found any other serious issues yet. There was definitely a lot of carbon on the valves and piston heads and I haven't even tried to look at what the valves look like, yet.

But my question is this:

What are the things I really need to look for when deciding if I need to replace the heads on this thing?
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Lincoln, NE

1973 Westfalia, Red, Wonderful

Worked on VWs in High School. Getting back at it and loving it.

[cmonSTART]

Sunken valve seats, egged/deformed guides, and cracks to name a few. Can you post some pictures here?
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'78 Bus 2.0FI
de K1IGS

[Wildthings]

You will likely want to replace the guides and the exhaust valves no matter what.

[phat-ass]

[phat-ass]

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Lincoln, NE

1973 Westfalia, Red, Wonderful

Worked on VWs in High School. Getting back at it and loving it.

[phat-ass]

I haven't removed the valves yes, obviously. I tend to be the kind of guy who checks to see if I actually need to before I do things. I suspect I will have to, though.
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Lincoln, NE

1973 Westfalia, Red, Wonderful

Worked on VWs in High School. Getting back at it and loving it.

[phat-ass]

What I don't get is these seem to have lips instead of being flat. I didn't think stock heads this year had lips. I suppose those could be gaskets that are just stuck on the heads. But, also, there is definite scoring on those lips and one does seem to be a bit shorter than the other. Does that scoring mean I need to chuck these?
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Lincoln, NE

1973 Westfalia, Red, Wonderful

Worked on VWs in High School. Getting back at it and loving it.

[SGKent]

To know the condition of the heads they have to be disassembled, washed in the proper cleaners, then glass beads and inspected for cracks ets. Then each valve is cleaned and inspected along with the guides for proper clearance. Then probably exhaust valves replaced and all ground. Seats get 3 angles. Back cut the intakes if the shop can. Seats must be checked and replaced as needed - they have a real weakness of falling out and destroying things. I have no idea who is currently doing a good job with heads. There are people who have been hit and miss over the years. The best guy, Len Hoffman won't touch used VW bus heads because they are usually trashed more than it is worth repairing them. They may need a minor fly-cutting too. A really good shop will have 1 hour in them before they even know what they will need, and about 3 - 4 hours by the time they are properly done. Multiply that by local shop rates - usually about $80 to $150 an hour. If you pull them apart be sure to keep track of which valve came from which port. Lifters have to go back into the same spots they came out of unless you are replacing the cam and the lifters as a new set, or they get reground, which is usually not as good as new.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[cmonSTART]

From the photos I suspect they will need to be gone through - I'm betting the one guide I see is sloppy and a couple of the seats don't look right.

But, like SGKent said they will have to be cleaned up really well to even inspect.

FWIW, I'm someone who love to do all his own work whenever possible, particularly engine work. But, there are a ton of things with heads that really need to be handled by a professional machinist. I will inspect heads, lap valves, even press in new guides, BUT all of the important stuff like cutting seats, fly cutting, sometimes reaming guides I take to a shop. Just the tools to do a basic 3 angle valve job are several hundred dollars. Plus the pros usually do a much better job than I ever will.

So clean things up well - even if it's just some mineral spirits and a tooth brush - that's free. Then we can see where you are.

They look tired though.
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'78 Bus 2.0FI
de K1IGS

[timvw7476]

those look to be the factory head gaskets/shims lodged in there. A pick or small slotted screwdriver can get them loose. Also there is still a small register/shelf just a couple mm thick behind those head gaskets. Be gentle. Even a putty knife will work. Clean up a bit & you may make out the parting line between gasket & head casting behind it. Carbon is hiding it at the moment.

[phat-ass]

Thanks everybody!

Yeah. I am definitely not doing any machine work myself. I've done a bit of reading about these and the seats in particular.

I'll look into disassembling tomorrow.

I'm inclined to just buy a new pair and then think about cleaning these up.

I just discovered a piece of sheet metal jammed in between one of the connecting rods and the crankshaft. Whew!

Not sure what it was. It doesn't look to have done a lot of damage. But that connecting rod doesn't want to move. Lol.

I fully expected something like this.
_________________
Lincoln, NE

1973 Westfalia, Red, Wonderful

Worked on VWs in High School. Getting back at it and loving it.

[Wildthings]

[phat-ass]