If the car has had regular oil changes (5k miles) the bottom end should be in reasonable conditon. While the head is off it would be a good idea to have it cleaned, and have some new valve guides fitted as these arelikely to be worn on a 127k mile engine. Places like hi-spec motor sport in dartford do these for about £7 each. If it was my car, i would spend 250 and have the head ported (price includes guides of course), which should give you 10% more power if done correctly. While the head off you might as well chuck in some new tappets, and a reground Kent GS2 cam. I would replace the cam-belt if it has not been done in the last two-three years, and change the tensioner if you havent already done so. Injector seals are also a common problem so i would change these as well- dont cost much. With the cam you should get a 15% increase, ie around 130bhp.
When you have the head and block resurfaced, you do not want them shinny. The best finish to ensure an airtight seal is like the surface of a stopper on those old glass medicine bottles your grand parents had.
Ben
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Ben
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All been pushed into the water???
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Ben
Thanks for your input - to be perfectly honest, despite being a member of Club GTI & enthusiastic reader of Rabbit I would like to merely put the engine back where it was before it went pear shaped & I'm not really looking for any performance gains.
It has had regular oil changes - both by me & previous owner(s). It's got a 2/3rds fully stamped service book & I've got invoices for the services during the gaps (it appears that of the couple who owned it prior to me, the wife got the book stamped but the husband just kept the invoices) so hopefully things shouldn't be too bad.
When I looked at the dipstick the sump wasn't empty, there was about half a centimetre of oil left.
I suppose it would be better to tow it to the repairers rather than try to drive (the engine runs & I suspect that the gasket actually went on Friday & I was driving it around on Saturday).
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Phil P is right. Its crucial you take the car to somewhere that knows what they are doing so they can prepare the sufaces properly.
Matt: I would still reccomend you have the valve guides replaced though, they are a known weak point on this engine. Just a small amount of oil being burnt on these engines can make them pink. I once foolishly fitted new oil seals to an old 80 1.8s i had. It started smoking again after 4k miles- a false economy. The thing with the head work is that you need to remove the guides to do the porting. So it should not cost that much more to have your head modified than just replacing he guides. A decent head will transform the way the car drives, and will give you the biggest performance increase for your money.
Ben
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