Head for a 2000 spider

[81Spider4me]

I'm kind of a beginner on here, newbie or whatever, but I was wondering if anyone has the actual deck height of a cylinder head that would be on an 81 FI spider 2000?
Curious because I sort of inherited this project from my late father who I know was having having problems with head gaskets, I pulled the head out and saw the gasket was damaged. But when I talked to someone earlier today, they had told me if the head was milled, it will ALWAYS leak. So I wanna check this, before I continue with the build and buy a head gasket only to have it fail again. THANKS ALL!

[kmead]

My apologies, I don't have the data you seek. You might check on the Guy Croft forum if someone else here doesn't have the info.

I would take it to a machine shop and have them measure it for flatness before abandoning it for a new one.

In regards to the 'always leak', umm no. It is standard procedure to mill a head to get it back to flat if it has warped from overheating. What could cause it to "always leak" is to cut it down too much (thus why you want the data on how thick the head has to be) which can reduce the integrity of the head but much more likely is that it increases the compression ratio to a point where standard gasoline will preignite and blow the head gasket.

You mention seeing that the gasket was blown, what was the evidence? Was it burned through on one of the fire rings or were the fire rings distorted and bent? Which cylinder suffered the failure? Number three or four? If number four was it near the coolant passage at the rear of the head?

The failure could have been overheating it, preignition, failure to properly prepare the head (flatness) or failure to properly torque the head down either at install or after running the engine in.

[81Spider4me]

Thank you the quick response!
It was blown on cyl number 4, yes by the coolant passage. The gasket looked alright otherwise, fire rings were all good, just that crack in the back was the only problem.
Really the reason why I'm trying to research this, is because my father brought it to some skeptical shops. The reason I say that, is because as I pulling the motor apart, I came across a lot of hack work. Washers missing, wires cut and bypassed, bolts missing, and other miscellaneous things.
When this reoccurring problem with the overheating was happening, and these people had to mill the head more than 3 times, I wonder if the head is now compromised.

[81Spider4me]

Also thanks for the other forum advice! I will check that out as well!

[kmead]

Milling it three times may well have cut it to the limit so your quest for the info is the right path. I suspect someone on here likely has a 2.0 head hanging around, perhaps a post on the wanted part of the forum will bring one to light.

Missing parts is never a good sign.

These engines don't normally blow headgaskets when properly set up. By set up I mean a head properly torqued and once everything is together properly bleeding the cooling system is particularly important and ensuring that the elements of the cooling system are working properly.

It is known that the non bypass heater system can contribute to the problem thus why the likely problem area was #4. On my 124 I installed a bypass type heater valve to allow the head to always have coolant flow through that area which may (I hope) mitigate the issue.

Something like this: https://www.comfortairgr.com/shop/4-por ... r-2499012/

Perhaps posting where you are would allow someone local to you to suggest a place to take your work to. I have my general vicinity in my about me for example on the forum.

[81Spider4me]

Where did you install that heater valve? On the engine side (firewall) or in the car (dashboard)? That looks like a perfect solution! I'm in Chicago, IL in the states. I know of some shops and places to take the car to, but I love working on it and getting my hands dirty lol!
I think I may call around a couple places, or people, to see if they have a head that can be measured. That's a good idea!

[joelittel]

I might have a head if you find that yours has been compromised. I'll have to look, but I believe I have a stock 2L head, and block.

AutoSprint on Addison specializes in FIAT. Giovanni is a very knowledgeable guy and has answered many similar questions for me.

Willow Automotive in the loop is a great resource too. Brian will get the job done and done correctly.

DynoSource Performance up North is another excellent shop. Talk to Harold.

Lots of people recommend Apex, machine shop. I no longer remember the guy's name but he was very helpful during my build.

[KWL82]

+1 on Autosprint. I was there month ago. Giovanni noticed in less than a minute that I was missing the rubber grommets on my radiator brackets. I don't know any who has such a good eye for Fiats. He'll talk to you for an hour and never talk down either.

[lglade]

I might have a head if you find that yours has been compromised. I'll have to look, but I believe I have a stock 2L head, and block.

AutoSprint on Addison specializes in FIAT. Giovanni is a very knowledgeable guy and has answered many similar questions for me.

Willow Automotive in the loop is a great resource too. Brian will get the job done and done correctly.

DynoSource Performance up North is another excellent shop. Talk to Harold.

Lots of people recommend Apex, machine shop. I no longer remember the guy's name but he was very helpful during my build.

+1 on Apex
Ray and Lori Mortenson in Renton WA
(425)-226-5955
http://performanceapex.com/

We had a small engine fire on our 1962 Fiat 500D and Ray and Lori did a great job repairing our engine and getting the car roadworthy again. The engine now looks better and runs better than it has in years. Ray is truly a mechanical whiz on old Italian motors, and if he's lacking an impossible-to-find part then he likely has the skills to fabricate it.

[81Spider4me]

THANK YOU ALL! I was planning on calling Giovanni at autosprint to see if he has any specs on the head. I think he may still be in Italy, however I will give a try tomorrow. I've never heard of the other shops, but I will definitely look them up. Thank you all for the advice and leads!
I was busy today making a list of all the parts from new radiator to exhaust bolts that need to be replaced. A LOT of new parts will be going on this motor! Hopefully will run like new once I finish her up. Still some troubleshooting to do, but I'll get it! It makes me feel confident when I have people lending advice or even talking me through it such as you guys have!

[kmead]

The metal version of this valve can go in the engine compartment, the plastic one should go inside the passenger compartment. The hoses inside the car would take some careful finagling.

There are versions of this with three outlets, supply, return and supply to heater core. The return from the heater core and the return from the valve would require a Y to be added to combine them into the return to the water pump.

I suppose a plastic one could be in the engine compartment if you added a stainless heat shield over it to minimize heat transfer to the plastic valve.

Sorry no pics as my Coupe is in storage.