ABY head-skimm or not to skimm

[piotr]

So i can't make my mind up what to do with my cylinder head-should i get it skimmed or not.Most of the people i spoked to including Pete from White Cottage Quattro said don't do it ,and few others including James Goldstraw(Snaop On) who build race engines said-skimm it.What will be the right decision

[macspring]

Are you considering skimming because,

1. It overheated and is warped ?

or

2. Do you just want to take lick off it to have a clean surface to make to the new gasket on reassemble ?

or

3. Are you looking to alter the compression ratio ?

Depending on the three reasons would dictate people's advices / comments.

HTH a bit.

[Ruffiano]

depends on how much needs to be skimmed in my book, as well as the cost of replacing it vs the cost of having it skimmed.

I had mine skimmed:

[piotr]

No,it wasn't overheating,it was perfectly fine but I will have upgrade rods fitted and basically all engine is stripped to be "refreshed".image.jpg

[rxl]

if its not straight you dont have any other option.
if not needed dont fix things that are not broken..

[piotr]

[ATTACH]54808[/ATTACH]

[piotr]

I think it is straight as I didn't hed any problems before I took it of and I did check it with straightedge and filler gauge and seems to be fine

[rxl]

Get it measured and you will know if it's needed

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[piotr]

will do that-i just wonder if anybody had some problems after skimming head.There is one lad who started work in my workshop and he is keeptalking,that he know them engines very well and he said if i will skimm the head i will have nothing but problems

[rxl]

If you don't skim the warped head you will have problems. There is a maximum what you can scin of your head but don't see a problem with that

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[piotr]

is there any way to tell if there is enough "meat" on the head to be skimmed or not really?

[macspring]

Have it measure/checked and if it is perfect, maybe have the least possible amount taken off it to just clean it up, but so little that it will not alter the head in anyway except to make the surface clean.

Not sure how you can do the above without taking off a decent amount.

[piotr]

Cool,I will take it next Saturday to the specialist.

[Error404]

You can oly remove so much materials from the head before it is scrap. There is a factory spec on that. If your engine hs never been opened before you don't need to worry, from memory you can get a good 2 or 3 heavy skims before the head is scrap.

It is best practice to skim it, especially for high performance use, but if you have not had any previous problems there should be no absolute requirement to do it. Best bet is get it measured properly. If it is already flat your machinist might remove say 2 thou (0.05mm) to provide you with a perfect mating surface. You only need to have a minimum amount of material removed.

[piotr]

Hi Alex
Yes,the guy (James) who will be doing this for me mention today that he will probably only take about 3 thou off so it should be ok.
Can't wait next Saturday to get it all checked