Thread: Is There A Reputable Head Shop in Broward Florida

Well as some of you know, I recently finished the body and interior of the 99 DD. Originally I was going to sell her because the wife and I are expecting twins and since her car is an 09 and mine a 99, I was going to get into a van or full size sedan, however the wife said she'd get the van, so I get to keep my 99 SE-L.

The other day I noticed very slight seepage of oil coming from the head gasket right behind the oil catch can. It was barely noticeable but the gasket itself had a single drop of oil spread across the gasket as if it was getting ready to form the drop. I wiped it with my finger and sure enough, it was oil. I snugged the outside head bolt with the 10mm wrench but knew it is not the cause.

To me this means I have to refresh the motor with a new gasket set as the 12 y/o gaskets are beginning to harden. However, if I am taking my motor down this far, I might as well pull the motor, do the water pump, timing chain and have the head redone. Maybe I'll even refresh the block, but money is tight now with twins on the way.

My problem is the head shop. I know of two places that are good. Cylinder Head Depot and Mazworx. CHD said they wouldn't do mods and asked $850 for the stock redone head plus my core. Mazworx is about an hour away and I hate driving south.

Does anyone know of a reputable head shop that will port/polish and chop/shave the head and do a five angle valve job without asking for my first born child?

Thats a lot, I got my VE head rebuilt for $450, new exhaust valve guides and valves shimmed...

Yeah way too much for a simple head job. I have the FSM and know there is a whole lotta specing that needs to be done when rebuilding a head, but damn man 850 is about enough to drop a used DET in.

Great sig line about the turbo!

Do you have any other mods done to this car or is it stock? If it is stock, what are your plans? I am trying to find out why you need to have a port and polish, valve job, head freshened up etc. Let me know and maybe I can help you not find a shop but point you in the right direction. Is this car a DD? If you are going to get into headwork and a chain etc etc then just drop a VE or DET in it and call it a day. Headwork is good but will not do much without the correct supporting mods. Before I get carried away with options, give me a little more info as I am not firmiliar with you or your car.
Drew

Car is mostly stock with the exception of some bolt on's. Header, WAI, Adv. Timing, light weight flywheel, stage2 clutch etc... nothing internal. It is a DD and will remain so until it no longer runs...

I'm just looking for some more power in the pedal, nothing radical. Just want more snap when I press down. Last time I was at WOT was probably a year ago. Most of my driving is no more than 1/2 pedal.

I read about the 91-93 intake cam upgrade and figured it is the 'cheap' way in to more power to the pedal. I'm only looking for about 10-15hp gains. If I wanted more a DET or VE would be great, but the cost to get one now that Japan has suffered that quake and tsunami, for me is unobtainable.

Before the quake I could have bought a JDM from a local place for around 700. Now they want almost 1500.00 for it just because they're harder to get now.

I got access to a shop etc and will do the motor work myself, but don't want my @$$ to feel sore after paying for the head work.

The cost you are going to spend on headwork is not worth it without other supporting mods. You will have minimal gains, your money would be better spent on some jwt or bc cams than headwork. If you have a headgasket issue, which I am still not convinced that it is, just get the head cleaned up from carbon, or hot tanked, check for straightness which I assume will be ok unless it has been overheated and install a new gasket, go from there.

VE's are still going from anywhere from 700-1100 which is what it will cost you to do all the headwork that you are talking about. DET's are cheaper than a VE but you will need more supporting mods. A set of good used cams or new BC's will make a huge difference. The 91-93 cam upgrade is a noticeable difference but not as worth it to go through the effort when bc stage 2's are like $250 for the pair. A used set of s3's seem to be around 300 and s4's between $3-400. I would look for the best deal you can get on either of those and have that leak checked out and get a second opinion. These headgaskets don't usually seep externally and tend to last for quite a while. Usually when they let go it is because of detonation or overheating.

If you don't want to swap engines, then a set of cams and a stock head will make more power than a worked head with stock cams. Even the BC stg 2's have a very good gain. Check a different place for used engines and since you are in FL, check with Andreas Miko. He will even from what I hear give you tech advice when you buy an engine from him which is priceless. His engines are always top notch from what I have seen and has an impecable user feedback.

Don't overthink this too much. A nice clutch setup and light weight flywheel will also make a huge difference and will change the way the car drives and revs. So many different ways to make power on a stock head than getting headwork done. Headwork should be done once you reach the limitation on the stock head and with lowport cams you are not even close. Even with s4's N/A you won't have huge gains with headwork.
Drew

I agree with the diagnosis of detonation causing the head gasket to fail prematurely. A tad over a week ago the CEL came on and its code was the crank sensor. I replaced it, but after resetting the ECU and a couple of starts later, the CEL returned. This time the code was the cam sensor. I ordered the distributor from the local dealer as it was only 364 or so and the Bennet Auto remaned one was 270, but not in yet. Probably arrive and go in on Friday, but I might wait until I do the gaskets, etc... next week.

I have the timing adv to about 16-17 degrees and run iridium plugs which tend to run hotter than the platinum so I believe this could be the cause of the head gasket seeping oil.

The engine has never been run hot and I flush the system once a year, so I believe the head should be straight and true. A good cleaning and engine refresh with a timing chain and water pump would be fine as I'll keep the gas mileage and have a semi new engine, but if it's ported and polished, chopped with cams, albeit stock ones, I should notice some gains in pedal response.
Plus those 91's were 1/4th of the cost of used BC2's. If I get a wind fall or a few extra gigs, then I'd spring for those BC's or JWT's as swapping cams is not that big of a job, but I'm really not looking for beastly power as I gave up racing in my 20's. (still don't know why )

The bottom end should last fine as I've changed the oil meticulously every 2500 ish miles with Mobile 1 and this should have minimized wear enough to give me another 50- to 100k without too much blow-by. I actually painted the oil catch can today and it, and the hoses had nothing in them.

The VE looks appealing, as it is good gains for cheap but I like the DE motor as I've had it ten years and can keep it running easily. Not to mention it's the engine the car came with so there's only one FSM needed. I do fix things when they start to fail just because unless I have to save up for it; and the one time I neglected anything was the distributor o-ring. It didn't get changed for around three months. Nothing a quick install and de-greasing couldn't fix and no damage done to anything.

Now, I'm no ASE certified mechanic, but I can handle most things myself with the FSM and some common sense. I also have access to a couple of local shops and the cost of parts at their rates with no charge because of a barter system we set up. Because of this, the fact I wasted my head gasket from forgetting to retard my timing when the cam sensor code displayed and the engine has 149k on it, I will pull the motor out and replace the gaskets, change the front parts, do the top end and paint both the engine and bay. I have the paint and clear from when I did the car and shop supplies come out of their pocket, not mine.

So what I really want to know is, ...

WHY THE HELL DOES A SIMPLE HEAD JOB COST 850 WHEN IT SHOULD RUN 300 on average? It's not like they're milling it by hand with a nail file.

I inquired about valve lapping and the guy actually laughed saying it was not done anymore on heads. For 850, I want my valves lapped by hand damnit!!!

Drew,

I've thought about the head work (P,P&C) and the statement of getting more bang for the buck with other mods. Yes, it is true about it and that head work should be the last thing done to increase performance as it is like decorations on a cake being the last thing done.

While this is true, I was also hoping that by doing the head work now, when I was ready to have the head done with higher end parts, it would be less costly at that time to re-work the head, but since head work is so costly down here in So. FL. I will take your advice (since it is truly common sense) and not port, polish and chop the head this time around.

Instead I'll check with Andreas Miko about an entire motor to swap mine with. This way I'll have a complete spare to rebuild at my discretion.

While I know you will agree with my agreeing with not doing the head work now, what is your, or anyone else opinion about swapping the engine out for another SR20DE and slowly rebuilding this one?

That is your best bet, hands down. Get a lowport and remember to swap you intake manifold onto it as it has different emissions than the earlier lowports if that is the one you end up with. I would call Dre and ask him what he recommends from what he has in stock or can get quickly. DE's are cheap thats why I wouldn't bother to do a chain unless it was a complete performance rebuild. The chain should last the life of the engine, sometimes it doesn't but most of the time will go for the life of the engine. I have never personally seen a sr20 head gasket seep and not blow and loose some compression. Usually a misfire caused from a sensor will not blow one of these head gaskets which is why I say have someone else look at it before you go that far. A good head job takes time and that is why it costs so much. You can lap valves in your self with a cheap tool and some lapping compound if you so desire. You are in FL so use the vast resources available to you as there are a ton of people with sr20 experience.
Drew

It seeps from the outer bolt behind the EGR valve.

Naturally before I pull the head I'd check the torque of the inner bolts, but I've never seen this sort of seep in an SR either, so it tells me by gut feeling that there may be an underlying issue I'm not aware of.

In all my years of driving Nissan's I've never had this happen.


As far as compression and loss of power, I haven't noticed anything change. She doesn't burn oil and gas mileage is great since she's minor bolt on's only as far as the engine goes.