Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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How hard is it to get these changed? Is it a head off job?
If I got a garage to do it, how much would I be looking at roughly?
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jamesvalver
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Registered: 21st Feb 03
Location: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
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yeh head off job. prob lookin at around £300 2get a garage 2do it i would of thought. can b done yaself wit no probs really. just need a valve spring compresser. it can b done by pressurising the cylinder while the head is on but its fookin hard that way
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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If it's gonna be a head off job, what can be done to the head while it's off to make it perfect A1 condition? Also what about things like porting/polishing, or does that not make any difference in the grand scheme of things?
X14XE engine by the way.
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Jambo
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Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
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dont waste your money on tuning ya engine sam
£300 is what id say it would cost too, maybe a little more 
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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I remember the place I took it to who changed the head gasket on it charged me £330. Wouldn't they have changed the valve stem oil seals at the same time or do people not bother to do this when the head's off?
[Edited on 31-10-2005 by Sam]
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jamesvalver
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Registered: 21st Feb 03
Location: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
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u only change the VSOS wen the valves r removed. on head gasket most ppl just take head off, change gasket n put head bak on wit out checkin nethin else. u can have ya head fully flowed but u would b lookin at around £325 + 4that. all depends if u wanna keep wit the x14 or if u wanna upgrade 2 a bigger engine?
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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Well as I have had to move back home and insurance is stupid for anything bigger than a Reliant Robin, I need to keep the Astra and keep the X14XE engine. 
I was actually planning on getting an Impreza WRX as I could afford the insurance when I was living in Oxford, but here the cheapest quote I got was about £3000  so I'm gonna have to keep the Astra for a while longer now, so may as well spend some $ getting it running perfectly.
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jamesvalver
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Registered: 21st Feb 03
Location: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
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if u want it runnin perfectly then headwork wont make much difference. it'll just b more expence rahter than nethin else. ur best bet is just 2get the VSOS replaced n get the head checked ova n leave it as that if u plan 2 replace the car
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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Do you think if I leave it as it is, that it will make the engine worse? IE. just keep topping oil up?
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jamesvalver
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Registered: 21st Feb 03
Location: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
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if a seal goes totally then it could run the risk of droppin a valve n dont wanna let that happen. VSOS on me gsi have been leakin 4 the last 2k miles so fink i should b gettin the replace asap lol
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James R
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Registered: 4th Feb 03
Location: 205GTi16/306GTi16
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You'll be looking at about £400 to do the stem seals as it takes abotu half a day to do the seals on top of the rest of it to do a head gasket effectievly, also mans the valves can be lapped back in.
If the seals get worse you only need to worry abotu loosing oil and lookign bad for it, it will cause a slight drop in performance due to oil going in to the chambers, but it won't cause engine damage as such.
If you want the head made A1 again, I'd suggest acid dip, lap in the valves then the stem seals, you can do it yourself in a weekend.
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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Yeah it feels a bit like a 1.0 at times because of the oil leaking through, very underpowered for a 1.4 16v.
So are you saying it'll cost £400 to do the valve stem oil seals plus £300+ for the head gasket etc. or just £400 in total for the lot?
Also what does "lapping the valves" mean?
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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What you are paying for is labour, it will be less than £100 in parts, but it will be £300-£400 for the whole job including the gasket, timing belt and stem seals...
Lapping the valves means grinding them into the head with grinding paste to make an air tight seal...
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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Ahh right... Thanks for the info. 
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Stu_22
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Registered: 25th Mar 02
Location: Luton
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stem seals are in good head gasket kits so about £30 for parts then do the old cambelt kit as well
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