Cylinder Head 1z

Have been researching rebuilding the head on my 96 1z. In the process ran across a 1.9 B4 1z cylinder head that came off an Audi 80 in Germany-only 100,000mi. Am considering swapping out the cylinder heads. Will it work? Both are rated at 66KW and from the pic looks identical.

I have an early 1z (<770,000) which has the 8mm Valves. Have been told that I will need to change it over to 7mm valves since the 8mm stuff is unobtanium. This will necessitate changing the valve stem guides which I have never done. What kind of tools/equipment would I need? Something that a DIYer can do? Thanks.

A press and an arbor. Nothing too complicated.

-Todd

Once the valve guides are pressed in you will have to have them reamed and a valve job done. Might have a shop do it all if you do not have the means to do a proper valve job.
Get in touch with Franko6 on these forums. He knows the process well.

Hand reamers aren’t a lot of money and you’d get by with a decent hand/drill lapping. If you’re going for a 5 angle grind, that’s a different story, but I think the op is just looking for a refreshed head.

I always encourage people to try things, on their own. That’s the reason these forums exist. If they find the job is outside of their skill set, they can always take it to a machine shop, afterwards.

Other than a buggered up guide or 2, no irreversible harm will likely have been done.

-Todd

Thanks for the feedback. What Tod said is the real dilemma for me. If I buy the kit from IDParts it's not a lot of money and I would like to try it myself but...I can buy a used head with only 100,000mi for the same money as the kit. I've got 4 of these B4's sitting around and the experience would be good. I'm thinking I'll go with a used head and rebuild the one I take off as a back up.

Franko6 is definitely the go to guy for a professional rebuild. I had him do my daughters New Beetle and was very happy. Part of the fun and frustration of owning these is working on them myself so I'd like to give it a go.

Found a cylinder head out of an Audi 80 B4 with a 1.9 TDI- 1992 or 1996. Both rated at 66KW-whatever that means? It looks the same and the research so far says its the same but still researching it.... anybody know for sure?

Some head work like guides, seals, deck job and so on are CHEAP for most shops to do. I had my local shop do just that for a whopping $150 bucks. No big deal. Worth it if you ask me.
HAND REAMING? i have done plenty of hand tools work on small engines, mostly gy6's and motorcycle engines and can tell you, go pull a head off any car at the junk yard and get the tools for doing that to it and practice if you want to DIY this,
I have done platy of practice work on junkyard engines for the $2 it takes to get into the pick and pull.

Not too complicated? Even putting in the guides has it's foibles. The day we broke heads with an oversized Chinese-made Febi guide is memorable. Since that day, we have custom guides made. Every time we have an issue that hurts us, we develop the protocol to overcome it. Like our Molnar connecting rods. We built them for ourselves. People try to steal them. Like our valve guides, like our camshafts... when things became a problem, we took it in house, for our own benefit for our customers.

Things that make cylinder heads complicated:
Seat cutters
pilots
Surfacing machine
Valve Grinder (2 types)
Superior Parts (not everyone sells the best stuff)

So, you stuff some guides in. Now what? It's simple to ream. Really? You realize we have 4 different size broaches for the bronze guides? They are about $50 each. There are valve seat cutters. One cutter, with it's tool holder and head is $220. The carbide pilots are $120 ea. and we have 5, 6, 7 and 8mm pilots and variations in those sizes, as valve stems are not always exactly the same size. For example, from a new 6mm valve to an acceptable used valve, can be anywhere from 6.92-6.96mm. To fit the guide for concentric valve seats, our pilot are sized by .004" or .01mm. That is 4 pilots. That doesn't include the different cutters or the machine that runs them.

So, you install the guides and put in new valves. Now, you measure valve protrusion and then, valve stem height. Ever tried to lap a valve to proper height? How do you correct the valve stem height? Do you know what dimensions are required?

So, I'm sure it's not all that simple. I'm just explaining a few facets of what we do, as most people don't even know what all they are buying with a cylinder head job. For example, we deburr the razor-sharp edge of the head gasket side of the head after surfacing. Nobody likes slicing their fingers on that sharp edge. For us, it's just part of the protocol. We have saved so many cut fingers and the customers usually don't even realize it, because they aren't bleeding.

Sure, lots of people who can take a stab at building their cylinder head. Now, make it last 250,000 miles. We have LOTS that are past that on the rebuild.

And then, Todd, you state yourself your fuel economy is 'dismal'. There are engines we have put together with 220hp, that when not spinning the wheels, are getting 50+ miles per gallon. At the point that mileage is an interest, it's not the tune, it's not the turbo, it's not the valve guides... it's the injectors. What we do with cylinder heads, we can also do with injectors.

OPM... We do that very often.. We fix 'Other People's Mistakes'

Franko6 said:

And then, Todd, you state yourself your fuel economy is 'dismal'. There are engines we have put together with 220hp, that when not spinning the wheels, are getting 50+ miles per gallon. At the point that mileage is an interest, it's not the tune, it's not the turbo, it's not the valve guides... it's the injectors. What we do with cylinder heads, we can also do with injectors.

Click to expand...

Rebuilt IP, 2 sets of new, calibrated Boston nozzles, Kerma tune and the mileage never increased. The turbo has been replaced somewhere along the way and boosts fine. The head is stock, but clean, so I doubt this is the cause of my poor mileage.... I could be wrong.

I’ve come to accept that my 6 mile commute, littered with traffic lights is to blame. Even in today’s weather, my oil temperature isn’t fully warmed up, when I arrive in my parking space. Now, when I actually go on a normal road trip, I’ll see that I break into the 40 mpg range, but otherwise I’m in the low to mid 30s.

I’ve refreshed plenty of VW heads. Do I go to the extreme that you have... definitely not. Do you do a better job than I do, in my cramped one car garage, where the work usually spills into the driveway... you definitely do. Do all of my cars run without any issues.... yes.

I’ve read plenty of your posts and was just thinking of the CNC porting that you do. I’m not doubting you do good work for the price that you command. Would I spend that, when 2 of my cars were purchased for $300-$400 each... likely not.

Like I mentioned, my cars start quickly, run without issue, and get respectable mileage, when they’re given the chance to actually stretch their legs.

Maybe when I have a project where money is no limit, and the bottom end is getting the same treatment, one of my heads will be sent your way. Until then, I’ll continue to DIY.

-Todd