Thread: Need some suggestions for a swap before I do it already

Hey guys. Its getting to become winter here in seattle and finally finished buying everything I need to do a swap in my 99 p11. The motor I have is a w11 DET and I was lucky that it came with a GTI-R turbo. Well, since its winter, a couple of friends were telling me to replace the headgasket, head bolts, and maybe the rod bearings. Some told me that I don't have to change the rod bearings as long as your motor is well lubricated with oil. And for the headgasket, another friend told me its completely up to me cause he never touched his u13 motor and he never had problems for 5 years now and he daily drives his car running 10psi of boost.

Now I was thinking of rebuilding the head while I'm at it. The problem is that, I'm short on cash to get the parts and maybe some shop services since I recently became a parent, so I was thinking to just replace the headgasket and head bolts since the motor is on a stand. I was planning to get an OEM VE gasket and ARP head studs. If anything, I will postpone my motor swap for awhile and save more money to get everything done that I mentioned above. Another thing, if I replace the headgasket, do I have to shave the head before putting it back on and is there anything else to replace or do? When I do take the head off is there anything I should inspect? As far as I know, I took a pen cam and looked inside the spark plug holes and saw clean pistons and the walls look nice still. But, for now, I want your guys' suggestions. Also, I have BC stage 2 cams on my N/A now, just wondering if I would have to worry about the valve train on the DET motor in the future, or I should be alright. I've been seeing built heads go for only $300-400, but doesn't the DET motors have the "special" sodium filled valves or does that even matter when buying a built head? Thanks guys.