Head replacement.

[interested!]

Originally Posted by TSchulz

So at the moment I am burning oil like crazy. Another forum said to replace the head but could not tell me why or what head to replace it with. Anyone here with any suggestions? Also other than head studs is there anything that I should do while I have the engine apart?

Hi! Many moons ago I had a car to work on ( straight 4 cyl-8 vertical valves ) that was going through oil at an alarming rare ( 1 gallon a week ) , it seems that the oil seals on the valve stems had become carbonised and brittle and the oil was bypassing the seal and going straight down the valve stems.This can be checked by removing each spark plug and checking the condition , oily?-black? heavy carbon deposit?
This was cured by replacing the valve seals -in-situ - by putting each piston to top-dead-centre to stop the valves being worked on falling into the cylinder and changing the seals .A special tool was required to compress the valve spring(s) but overcame the need to remove the cylinder head -problem cured.
If you are doing this-make SURE -ALL the oil passages are covered to stop the collet falling down one of them -it happens no matter how careful you are!