Head Replacement... Too good to be true?

MadNad

New Member
Jan 25, 2008
44
0
0
Lafayatee, CA
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOYO...024QQitemZ370020196236QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

I was shocked when I ran across this. He has 14 available and charging 425$ for a rebuilt head and only 20$ shipping. My head guy is charging me 445$ to rebuild my head. He has only ripped it apart so far and told me I need new cams due to excessive journal wear. After hunting around ( I have a few leads from guys on this forum ), I ran across these heads on ebay. Has anyone gotten a head from these guys. Any thoughts on whether or not this would be the way to go instead of paying probably at least 100$ more to fix my head than what it would cost to get this one?

The insane part has to be...
"We require an exchange on all heads. (We will accept your old head no matter what is wrong with it as long as we get the complete head back). When you receive your rebuilt cylinder head, it will come with a prepaid return tag that you can use to return your old head to us at no additional charge to you."
 
Apr 6, 2005
339
0
16
Alpharetta, GA
The risk of buying a cylinder head from ebay is that you are quite not certain on overall quality and useability of it. Without visually inspection, you can't really tell what you are getting, and that becomes a huge risk / gamble.
Benefit of the local machinist is that you can develop a relationship, and through his evaluation of the head garner a lot more confidence that it's reusable.
 

HommerSimpson

New Member
Dec 31, 2007
1,067
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0
New Smyrna Beach Florida
MadNad;911830 said:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOYO...024QQitemZ370020196236QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

I was shocked when I ran across this. He has 14 available and charging 425$ for a rebuilt head and only 20$ shipping. My head guy is charging me 445$ to rebuild my head. He has only ripped it apart so far and told me I need new cams due to excessive journal wear. After hunting around ( I have a few leads from guys on this forum ), I ran across these heads on ebay. Has anyone gotten a head from these guys. Any thoughts on whether or not this would be the way to go instead of paying probably at least 100$ more to fix my head than what it would cost to get this one?

The insane part has to be...
"We require an exchange on all heads. (We will accept your old head no matter what is wrong with it as long as we get the complete head back). When you receive your rebuilt cylinder head, it will come with a prepaid return tag that you can use to return your old head to us at no additional charge to you."


got a link to heads on ebay ?
 

spipedong

Level 2 Rythym Rogue
Apr 2, 2005
404
0
0
40
Eugene, OR
I purchased a head from CHI a few years back and was very pleased with their workmanship and price. It's not mirror finished but you can probably get that done after you receive it if you plan to get a metal head gasket. FYI, there's no difference between NA and turbo heads besides the cam(s); if I remember right they only list 7MGE.
 

werewolves182

is without a supra :(
Aug 23, 2005
436
0
16
Crownsville, MD
I had also purchased a head from them back in my 7M days. Very good deal and great quality work on the head. And like spipedong said, if your going to run a MHG your going to need to get it surfaced. Otherwise Id recommend them.
 

MadNad

New Member
Jan 25, 2008
44
0
0
Lafayatee, CA
IJ.;912004 said:
Most 7M heads are annealed/soft and junk for a performance build.

I'd make sure a hardness test is done before purchase so you get a good one.

Meaning they were annealed because of a gasket failure or something that caused the engine to get hot, not due to a process during a rebuild?
 

Supracentral

Active Member
Mar 30, 2005
10,542
10
36
The reason most heads are available for rebuild is that the original motor it came from is toast. Since the most common failure mode of the 7M is the blown head gasket, the head has likely been on an overheating motor. At the age of these engines, even well cared for heads start to become suspect.
 

Jaguar_5

It's ALIVE!
Feb 7, 2006
1,468
0
0
Seattle
I bought a cylinder head from the company awhile back, had it checked out by my machinist, and found out the head had been decked too many times, and my timing would have been screwed up

They were however a nice company to work with and offered me a refund or exchange, I took the refund.
 

MadNad

New Member
Jan 25, 2008
44
0
0
Lafayatee, CA
Been a while since my strength of materials class...

What hardness scale .. Brinell, Rockwell? And what results should I expect. I'd rather sound stupid here than when I'm asking a vendor :)