Head Work H22a

Post by **vanzep** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 2:13 pm

Im planning on refurbing an H22a head and looking for any advice/input

Head looks in good condition and came apart nicely. Some gunk in the water channels-gave it a light clean and pressure wash.
Water channels now clean. Some gold oil residue on inside of the head-this wipes off with some degreaser and a soft cloth.

Here is what im thinking

Lap valves and valve seats
Light port and polish on inlet and exhaust ports
Check head is straight and flat with no low spots
Clean it - not sure how best to do this
Buy new head gasket

I plan to do these jobs myself and without using any fancy tools

Do i or should i look at replacing valve stem seals & guides and would this mean sending it off to get this done

Any tips or help appreciated

Post by **Drax** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 2:30 pm

i refurbished the head from Wills headgasket replacement myself, just used this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-Valve-S ... 1261659764 which made it easy.
from this i refurbed the valves, lapped them back in with some paste and did the stem seals at the same time as they were shot - tip, there are allsort of tools to remove these, most are bum droppings so just burn them with a heat gun or equivalent and use plyers to easily pull them off afterwards

not done guides myself, and p&p i used a machine shop but if you have a dremel & patience you can do it yourself.

cleaning wise, i think Nathman used some nice stuff to dip his head in (giggidy) to get it nice and clean, pretty sure it in his build thread.

Post by **Merlin** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 4:56 pm

Drax wrote:lapped them back in with some paste

Would a small plunger with a drill attachment work good?

Post by **Drax** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 5:01 pm

Merlin wrote:
Drax wrote:lapped them back in with some paste
Would a small plunger with a drill attachment work good?

not sure if that's a joke or a genuine question

lapping paste and plunger kit are dirt cheap

Post by **NafemanNathan** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 6:57 pm

I used Gunk engine cleaner neat and left my head to soak for a few days. I used a large tub and kept it tipped up so the ports on one side at a time remained submerged.

I wouldn't use a drill to lap the valves. It's a simple task that doesn't take that long. Using a drill will be too fast, create too much heat, and you won't be able to here hear that distinctive lapped in sound by tapping them as you go.

Post by **vanzep** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 7:01 pm

ahhh great - thanks

ive ordered up some lapping paste and a tool - only cost a few quid like you said Drax
i like the idea of doing it by hand as im not 100 trustworthy with power tools

if you do it by hand apparently you can the note from the grinding paste changing as everything smooths off;)

id hadnt thought as far as taking the valve retainers off - now im wondering if im going to do that would it be easy enough to fit some of the uprated ATR/5th gen sprung lmas and maybe a set of ATR/A8 cams

talk about opening a

will have a look at nafes thread to see what he used to clean the head....

edit:just beaten to the post
cheers for the info Nafeman - ive heard gunk was a good one for cleaning the engine bay

Post by **vanzep** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 8:10 pm

Ok so cleaning stuff bought,lapping paste and tool bought..

valve stem seals - found these on ebay - thoughts...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Full-set-of-v ... 1438.l2649

Post by **Drax** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 8:32 pm

I fitted sprung lma's too, easy pop and swap while the head is bare.

A7/8/type s cams would be worth it

Post by **NafemanNathan** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 9:11 pm

Stick with OEM stem seals Nick

Post by **vanzep** » Tue Sep 26, 2017 9:19 am

Brilliant

sprung lmas and cams it is then

i will keep with OEM stem seals - ive got to order a few other OEM parts like headgasket,cam seals,oil cooler o ring & crank seal and coolant pipe seals so will get them from H Tune. Whew thats going to add up to fair total - is the discount code "ludegen" ive not bothered to use any code before better start using it now

thanks for all the good info