Civic EG

My buddy and i are looking into buyig a used Y8 head for him and im concerned about how it was used any ideas on what to look for???

Look for any imperfections on the valves where they may have contacted the piston if the timing belt snapped.
Check the surface with a straight edge to be sure it is not warped.
Look at the cam lobe surfaces for any scoring.
Look at the cleanliness of the head. If the oil was changed regularly it will be cleaner, if not then it will be covered in black gunk.

teal_dx wrote:Look for any imperfections on the valves where they may have contacted the piston if the timing belt snapped.
Check the surface with a straight edge to be sure it is not warped.
Look at the cam lobe surfaces for any scoring.
Look at the cleanliness of the head. If the oil was changed regularly it will be cleaner, if not then it will be covered in black gunk.

x2 the combustion chamber may aslo have marks if the piston has hit the valves or if it came off of an engine that "chucked" a rod

After i get a new head i rotate the cam an make sure they all close an open. Then Ill turn the head on the side an pore water into the exhaust side an look for any leaks coming out of the valves, or take a flashlight an hold it against the head an look for any light coming through the valves. Then to the other side.

dont forget to look for the lil things like
snapped bolts
threads striped

stuff like that
lookin for all the Major things, you can pass up the small minor things that can be a PITA