Got my heads back from machine shop...
 

sent out my iron L98 heads to a friend of my boss' (works at machine shop). i only had to pay $200 but i never asked what was replaced and what wasnt. i got the heads back yesterday and they look very nice and brand new. what im concerned about tho is the amount of material that was shaved off. he said he did me a favor and shaved off a lil more for better compression. but at the same time not enough so that i would need new pushrods (my boss told me all this, i havent talked to the machinist). should i be worried and try to verify what exactly was done? any way to measure how much was really taken off so i know if its safe to use the stock valvetrain? or should i just try and use a thicker head gasket?

also i took a look at one of the heads and on the combustion chamber wall around the intake valves there are marks in the metal. as if they were made by a grinder or something. is this normal in the machining process? i dont remember seeing these marks on another set of 083 heads that i had done a long time ago at another shop. thanks.

I would definatley ask what was done. You have to know so that you get other items that fit your application. Since he milled them, you may run into some valve to piston clearance issues. Of course this is theorectical, your setup will vary.

As far as the marks in the combustion chamber, it sounds like he unshrouded the valves. This is a good thing as it promotes flow into the cylinder.

i know it is a old post but..
 

couldn’t he just measure the heads with a dropper and plexi? and see how much the heads were milled down. anyways what happen to this? sorry just searching and got curious.

The guy that did my heads, (the previous owner), shaved the thing to like a sliver of metal between the ports. When i went to get my motor rebuilt i had the machine shop guy look at them. He said it was pretty bad, but he said use Hi Tak from permatex when doing my intake gaskets and stuff....and it worked great and i have never had a problem so i suggest you do that and you'll be fine :thumbsup:

Probabily took about .010" off. Nothing serious.
.005" to .010" is considered a clean up cut. Just enough to straighten up the head deck.

Will only reduce the chamber size a few cc. Will only reduce the v to p clearance a tiny amount. Unless you have a ver very big cam valve to piston clearance will not be an issue even with a little shaved off the heads.

You can cc the chambers your self at home with a few tools from any good pharmacy and a old cd rom disc.

You can buy a glass graduated cylinder ($10-20) that is marked off in Milliliters ML

1 ML = 1 cc Put 100ml of water in the graduated cylinder.
Set the head up with the deck up and level.
Use a little vasoline around the head deck to seal the cd rom to the deck. Plug the spark plug hole with a spark plug. Fill up the chamber thru the hole in the cd rom and measure how much water is left in the cylinder when the chamber is full. 100 minus what is left in the cylinder = chamber size in CC's.

takes a.006" deck cut to remove 1cc volume.

The marks on the side of the chamber wall are from the valve grinder.

A CD ROM, huh? That's pretty inventive for a bucks-down cc-ing setup. Never would have thought of that myself. How accurate have you found this to be?

Regarding the "shave" to the heads..... not usually cause for concern. Most aftermarket "rebuilder" head gaskets are thicker than the factory original gasket, so it usually balances out pretty close.

The cd rom is as flat as you need to get good results.
The hole is very convenient for pouring in the water.
The hardest part is chasing out the bubbles that like to hide in the corners. A little liquid dish soap added to the water helps reduce surface tension. You'll be within .5cc easily.

if your valves slowly seep water just spread a thin coating of vasoline around the edge of the valve face in the chamber to seal it water tight.

If I can do it, anyone can...:thumbsup: