80 series 4500 Engine Numbers

G'day,
Got a bit messed about at first. One mob l went to didn't like the 2nd hand head l got and said it was cracked. They 'kindly' gave me a price on a new one. I asked a mate where he got his GQ done, so got a like for like quote that was $750 cheaper than the first mob. I gave him the job..............

After missing the first 'it'll be ready by Saturday date, l eventually picked it up on Fri. Over a week longer than first agreed!

Been fitting it today. Brand new head with weltite inserts and nitrided valves. Cams will go in tomorrow and then minor parts, manifolds etc. Fingers crossed to turn the key tomorrow.

Cheers
BoB

Hi Greg,
I would say it's a fairly big job. I bought a brand new genuine castingand had weltite valve inserts installed in that along with new valves. I reused the springs, colletts and cams. Gen VRS gasket set with aftermarket head bolts. Also replaced the water pump, large bore hoses to radiator (three), fuel / oil /air filter, dizzy cap & rotor arm, grade6 ngk plugs. Removed radiator for clean-out. Genuine coolant.

Hardest part is removing the radiator with dual batteries installed!

Cost - New head $3300, Genuine parts - $700, Other - $100.
Interestingly a genuine fuel filter was $41 whereas a ryco from repco was $87!
Repco/bursons head bolts were $50 to $80 pe set (14) whereas genuine were (wait for it....) $26+gst each.....yes, each!!
The head rebuild guy supplied mine all-in.

Hope this helps
BoB

Oh year, access to the engine was reasonable to good. I had to stand on car ramps to get the height initially but now l've completely deflated the tyres and let it stand on low axlw stands it's much better. Taking it off (without manifolds & cams) was easy. Putting it back was harder as l wanted to go straight to the fitted position in one movement. Me and a mate took position at the sides. The head was resting on the radiator (bridged to the bullbar with wood and covered in cloth).

I placed all head bolts in but not the 2xM8 timing case bolts before pulling down the head bolts. That was a mistake, ensure the M8's line up nicely.
However the previous goons who had my head off had just about completely stripped the thread in the M8's. Now l have a problem to even nip them up. I've had a attempt to fit standard longer bolts in by lengthening the threaded part - this wasn't too successful. Now l'm looking at making up studs to screw in and fit a nut and spring washer. Nut fitted with studlock or burr the thread. If that nut comes loose, it's straight into the timing chain! Ouch

Check your head has a good earth. mine will get an additional strap. It's the electrolysis that killed mine, not lpg.

Well thats a bit of a story,
BoB

Hi Greg,
The threads are a bit of a worry. I'm gonna use 8mm mild steel threaded rod. High tensile is just way expensive and for 21Nm, l reckon mild steel will do the job. Just loctite the nut on and damage the thread slightly to avoid vibration loss of the nut.

I too was concerned about the chain. Previous experience with Rover V8 showed chain stretch was an issue. A mechanic mate in our club reckons not to worry, they are not a problem. Anyway to replace the chain made the job a lot bigger as the timing case is removed. This itself requires the sump removed. Basically advice l've got is that it's easier to pull the engine out than do it on the car! I left it alone. Visually the chain looks ok in the fitted position, but thats hard to tell if there is any amount of stretch withoutgetting it off.

The head has definetely been off before, as there is significant weld repair to the water galleries.

I've done 30k since l bought the car.

Cheers
BoB