Carbon Buildup In Cylinder Head

[joelittel]

I'm building a performance 2L and plan to use my existing cylinder head on the new block. While everything is easily accessible to me I'd like to address as many problems/issues as I can.

Is this a normal amount of carbon buildup for a fuel injected '80 with stock compression and some performance mods, ie. header, cams & cylinder head? Or is the carbon buildup an indication that something is off?

[djape1977]

that engine is burning oil.
quite a bit of it

[joelittel]

Good to know.

Should I clean all the carbon off the head before it goes on the new block?

[RRoller123]

new head, rebuilt with new seals, guides, etc?

[weengra]

Anything less than a full rebuild of the head is a false economy. It should be disassembled, cleaned and checked for straight/flat, all worn parts renewed.

[weengra]

Anything less than a full rebuild of the head is a false economy. It should be disassembled, cleaned and checked for straight/flat, all worn parts renewed.

[131]

Anything less than a full rebuild of the head is a false economy. It should be disassembled, cleaned and checked for straight/flat, all worn parts renewed.

X3. Complete waste of time putting that head on a new bottom end, get it overhauled.

[joelittel]

The head is only 1 season old. AR refurbished it for me last year, which is why I was so surprised by the carbon buildup when I took it off the old block.

[djape1977]

then no rebuild is needed.
take it to a machine shop for a wash. they will have a machine for washing those. basically like a dishwasher.
carbon bildup on intake can come only fron crankcase breather, and that's a sign of worn sleeves/piston rings

[joelittel]

Thanks djape1977 I'll get it cleaned.

Incidentally, the aluminum piece that connects the crank breather hose to the block, seen in center of original picture, was filled with a tar like goo. Literally filled with it.

I knew my old block looked "rough" when I put the new head on it, but I didn't understand how rough it was. It never smoked, but looking back I suppose it did drink a little too much oil.

I'm glad to be going through this experience. I feel as though I've learned more about my car since October than I had in the last 5 years of ownership.

[baltobernie]

The head is only 1 season old.

That looks like some corrosion in the coolant passage as well. Was the cooling system cleaned when you rebuilt last year?

[joelittel]

I did flush the cooling system with a kit from my local parts store. At the moment I don't recall the brand of flush kit I used.

But that's all I did.

Are coolant passages normally cleaner than mine?

[djape1977]

yes, they should be.

what kind of coolant did you use after flushing the system?

[joelittel]

Green stuff from auto zone. It may have been Peak brand. It was definitely the 50/50 premixed type though.

[djape1977]

needs to be blue or pink stuff
green is for engines with cast iron heads