Now that I have got my cylinder heads off do I need to rebuild them? The cylinder head kit I got from Atlantic British has a bag of random bits and pieces. Some of the parts I recognize as belonging to the valves but there are other larger o-rings and stuff that I don't recognize but I assume most are for the cylinder heads.

I've read through the overhaul process and it seems to get a bit complicated near the end and I'm seeing myself sticking each cylinder head in my oven and my wife yelling at me because it smells like burning oil. How far do you suggest I go? I am taking them to a machinist to see if they need refacing but I'm going to clean them up first.

 

You are not qualified to do a rebuild based on lack of tools, knowledge and experience.
Have a shop check them and see what they say and if they say you need something ask what they found, how it was tested and what will it cost. Get back to us.

 

They throw other parts in there for other applications that you don't need, like those big o-rings. I cleaned my valves up when I did the stem seals and took apart the rocker arm assembly to clean out the oil passages which were real clogged up. You have to be real careful putting that thing back together exactly right or no oil will get to the rocker arms. That's all I did with the heads, of course your case might be completely differrent.

 

Good I did not want to mess with it. I am taking them to a machinist on Monday. In the mean time I going to clean up the upper and lower manifold and replace the throttle body heater and clean up the wiring.