16v cylinder head work? (KR)

[m4ttj4mes 10]

hey guys,

 

got myself a spare cylinder head which has already been reconditioned along with vapour blasting and a skim to the face, looking to get the next level work done - i.e. gas flowed and/or port polishing... have seen some DIY attempts before and i really dont want to ruin mine! does anyone know anybody/comapny/anyone on here(?) that does this sort of work around the leighton buzzard/milton keynes area? I've emailed a company called 'blrengineering' for some quotes but there based in surrey so its about a 1.5hr drive for me which i dont mind but i would have to drop off/pick up again...

 

does anybody have any idea also of rough costs? not really sure what im after to be honest, just a very good clean up and improvement of air flow (cylinder head supposedly the big restriction on the KR engines) any help appreciated! thanks

 

matt

[Supercharged 2]

Man in the Shed has a good reputation - have a look on Club GTI

[m4ttj4mes 10]

cheers pal, will have to check it out! managed to get a rough quote from a local place near me; and this is to bring the head to him bare, with the valves loose; a full polish of the exhaust port side, which he says will then need the valve seats re-doing, and finally another head skim, and possibly reassembly for +/- £300 - this sounds like a lot to me but unfortunatly i can imagine the amount of work that goes into it? he also said he would leave the inlet ports alone too... was hoping to get the whole thing flowed really, anyone had theirs done?

[Erny 0]

Had mine done by a Sheffield company a few years ago along with a lot more engine work, a valve stuck in a guide after about 100miles and ruined the lot(£1000 down the toilet) ied not even took it above 2500revs as I was babying it all in. They have a good reputaion for this sort of work but ied go with man in a shed off club gti next time as hes been doing valver heads regulary for years. There's alot of clued up gents on clubgti that offer good engine work. Well worth being a member.

[eugopnosaj 0]

Try TMI in Leighton Buzzard, they've done head work for my Valver ans my brothers Mondeo. Paul is the Guy who owns/runs it, he's a nice chap and gets it done, they're reasonably priced too

 

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

[Jim 2]

Only ever heard fantastic things about Man in the Shed... but that is if you can find him. He's a bit like the A-Team - trying to get contact details is a bit tricky!

[mikkijayne 0]

There are a couple of really good DIYs on clubgti as well - one showing the basic concepts on an 8V head, and then another showing the differences on the 16V. Apparently it can gain 10% flow just from a 3-angle valve seat cut. But, most pro done heads seem to be around the £5-600 mark. I have two on my V8, so I'll be getting the dremel out and having a go myself! ;) Its costing me £110 a head for the 3-angle cut, lapping in the valves, pressing in new exhaust guides and a mild skim.

[m4ttj4mes 10]

Try TMI in Leighton Buzzard, they've done head work for my Valver ans my brothers Mondeo. Paul is the Guy who owns/runs it, he's a nice chap and gets it done, they're reasonably priced too

 

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

 

yeah thats who ive seen who gave me the £300 ish quote for polish of the zaust ports, valves reground and another skim...

 

There are a couple of really good DIYs on clubgti as well - one showing the basic concepts on an 8V head, and then another showing the differences on the 16V. Apparently it can gain 10% flow just from a 3-angle valve seat cut. But, most pro done heads seem to be around the £5-600 mark. I have two on my V8, so I'll be getting the dremel out and having a go myself! ;) Its costing me £110 a head for the 3-angle cut, lapping in the valves, pressing in new exhaust guides and a mild skim.

 

so the £300 quote i got doesnt sound too bad then? that is for polishing though, not fully gas flowed, think i might go for it, local too!

[davidwort 0]

not really sure what im after to be honest, just a very good clean up and improvement of air flow (cylinder head supposedly the big restriction on the KR engines) any help appreciated! thanks

 

matt

 

I don't think it is a big restriction really, after all VW designed it for much more flow than the 8v heads, and the standard 1.8's red line at 7,200.

The angle of the inlet and exhaust ports and the restricted valve sizes might have been limiting as far as race engine development went, but it's pretty good at breathing as a standard road car.

Expect about 10% improvement in top end revs/power from good head work, not a huge amount but it will make the engine a little smoother and more fuel efficient too.

It's not about the amount of metal cut out of the intake opening! all that does is kill the bottom end and probably lower your power! it's much more subtle than that on the 16v head.

you want a nice rough polish finish to all the inlet, most attention to detail on the valve throat and small things like the lumps in the casting around the valve guide end reduced (but not cutting the guide end back on a road car)

get the standard cast iron exhasut manifold internally smoothed out too.

Obviously to do a proper job it's a full head stripdown and guides out, so expect to pay for a lot of hours of work, 300 quid sounds way too low unless it's a cash in hand job and even then I'd expect it to be closer to 500, there's a lot to do in that head :)

[m4ttj4mes 10]

I don't think it is a big restriction really, after all VW designed it for much more flow than the 8v heads, and the standard 1.8's red line at 7,200.

The angle of the inlet and exhaust ports and the restricted valve sizes might have been limiting as far as race engine development went, but it's pretty good at breathing as a standard road car.

Expect about 10% improvement in top end revs/power from good head work, not a huge amount but it will make the engine a little smoother and more fuel efficient too.

It's not about the amount of metal cut out of the intake opening! all that does is kill the bottom end and probably lower your power! it's much more subtle than that on the 16v head.

you want a nice rough polish finish to all the inlet, most attention to detail on the valve throat and small things like the lumps in the casting around the valve guide end reduced (but not cutting the guide end back on a road car)

get the standard cast iron exhasut manifold internally smoothed out too.

Obviously to do a proper job it's a full head stripdown and guides out, so expect to pay for a lot of hours of work, 300 quid sounds way too low unless it's a cash in hand job and even then I'd expect it to be closer to 500, there's a lot to do in that head :)

 

thanks for the advice, as you say, if only a little improvement, its still improvement so i'll definatly go through with something i think! 300 quid was for exhaust ports ONLY - polished (not makng them necessarily bigger), he then said he would have to re-do the valve seats, and then have to re-skim the head. This is also as long as i bring him a bare head (currently built up with valves/cams in etc...) so it looks like ive got my afternoon of stripping it down sorted! (and dont worry, theres a very good read-through on clubgti im following! :cheers:)

 

thanks for all the advice so far!

[m4ttj4mes 10]

just an update along with another query... i stripped the head and it is now in the hands of Paul @ TMI (leighton buzzard) who is sorting the head for me - he said he isnt doing much with the inlet side as you want a little roughness, hes polishing the exhaust ports out, regrinding and '3 angling' (?) the valve seats and skimming it again for me.

 

I was wondering though after reading through various threads; whilst its apart, im not going the whole shabang due to $$$ but a set of ABF cams sounds likea good idea? theres a very detailed camshaft stufy on clubgti which shows a minimal gain from the exhaust cam but quite a significant gain on the inlet camshaft along with 1degree of overlap, i take it these (if i wanted them) are a straight swap/direct fit on my KR head? is there any reason i shouldnt, or are KR cams (the ones i have) more suited really?

 

if it helps, i love top end power :bonk: and am not really fussed about loosing a little grunt lower down if thats the case...? Paul has the cylinder head for a few weeks so ive got plenty of time to swap my cams if it sounds right...

 

comments appreciated!

[m4ttj4mes 10]

anybody know the answer? would it be a case of just ABF cams/pulley swap into my KR or would they use different caps or anything? advice needed asap please!

[davidwort 0]

you can just put the ABF cams straight in there, they were designed for a fully electronic injection system though, not K-jet, so they may not be ideal but in theory they should push the power band up the rev range a little compared to the KR cams. I personally like the KR cams on K-jet, a very good compromise for a K-jet engine. ABF cams may get you a little more peak power but shifting the torque might make the car a little slower accelerating right though the rev range.

[m4ttj4mes 10]

you can just put the ABF cams straight in there, they were designed for a fully electronic injection system though, not K-jet, so they may not be ideal but in theory they should push the power band up the rev range a little compared to the KR cams. I personally like the KR cams on K-jet, a very good compromise for a K-jet engine. ABF cams may get you a little more peak power but shifting the torque might make the car a little slower accelerating right though the rev range.

 

i see, so unless im willing to put up with all the power being right towards the top end, then best to stay with stock cams? they are pretty lairy enough... just thought it might bea shot at a few more horses while the heads apart