i picked up a ported cylinder head a while back and i had a few questions to those of you that have installed a used head

the valve seats/valves that came with the head look to be in decent shape. should i look into getting the seats machined regardless of how they look? and what is the preferred method to machine the seats, if so? should i get new valves as well?

id appreciate any information

 

i would pull the head apart, check for any bent valves, inspect the seats and guides. if all looks ok, lap the valves and see what it looks like, it they dont lap in easy, get the seats ground.

 

it is all apart already. a bare head with a bag of valves, springs, retainers, bolts and cam caps. all the valves do look good.

but okay, ill look into lapping the valve seats

 

wont do any good to look at it if you don't know what your looking for



take it to a machine shop get a valve job done and replace the valve guide seals

 

Seals are on my list to get ordered. Didnt have any to begin with. As much as i would love to dump the head and parts at a machine shop, id really like to know what i am looking at before i do that. If that means reading up on some of this stuff, then i will

 

Depends on your budget. When I rebuilt the heads for my T'bird when doing a P.I head swap I was on a strict budget. Had the heads resurfaced, re used the old valve guides and seats, lapped the new valves myself and replaced all the valve train.
Check to make sure the seats are not sunk in to the head, make sure the guides are not out of round (egg shaped) but if you can afford to have everything replaced then do that.