Cam job turned into head

So I bought an 06 Jetta with a BRM from the parents of a guy I was wrenching with, it was part of his estate, I knew he only paid $500, told me we were going to do cam and lifters to it and sell it. I paid his parents $500 ordered me up a cam and some lifters and started ripping into it.

(I'm a gasser guy, and very familiar with engines and what not, however have never worked on a diesel aside from like normal stuff, brakes, steering, et al. )

Sure enough I open It up and notice lobes are worn and the lifters are cupped, get the injector rockers off and notice that one of the lifters on #2 (which had the misfire) is gone. Lifter bore is pretty chewed up. So with just over 200k on the car, body in great shape, interior worn but clean (minus dog hair, not a lot but still there) . Do I just cut my losses and try to unload the car, or keep it? I had intentions of selling my 15mpg denali and keeping this for mileage, but now I'm not sure.

Unfortunately, holes in dished lifter tops is a very common sight on cam failure.

if the tops of the valves under the lifter are not rounded off (from the cam lobe beating down on it) and are all the same height, it is common to put a new cam lifters and cam bearings in these (following the well documented procedures here on this site) and motor on.

it would be wise to also pull the oil pan and make sure that the debris from the lifter top isnt blocking the pickup.

oh, no, the lifter is entirely gone, and lifter bore chewed up from smashing around inside the bore,,,, the head must be removed and machined, or replaced. Just wondering at this point, for a non enthusiast is it worth it simply for the fuel mileage.

yes it would be worth it to R&R the head to get the car running on the basis of fuel mileage, That engine still has lots of life left in it.

You need to at least get the head off to verify the lower end is OK. It could have damaged the piston/rod in that cylinder too.

If the lower end is OK, you just need a head.

Like this one:

https://www.vwpartsvortex.com/oem-parts/volkswagen-cylhead-038103267ex

Which will come complete with cam, lifters, valves, etc. already assembled. Just transfer over your injectors and injector harness. You'll also need a set of head bolts, and the same thickness gasket (indicated by notches or holes) as is already on the engine, plus manifold/turbo gaskets, timing belt related stuff, and I'd probably put a new water neck on it as well.

Your local dealer could probably match an online price for a genuine Volkswagen head. There is a core, but it can be trashed, they won't care (it is a new head anyway).

Really not a bad deal, considering a proper cam/lifter kit is still about $600 by itself.

Thanks for the info, I guess I have a small issue as I'm not used to paying retail for anything car related. Been in the parts business for over 20 years, usually get stuff at cost, I can get all the parts relatively inexpensively, I just cant find a head at a great price.

So where have you gotten OEM Volkswagen parts from before? $1400 seems reasonable to me (for a new head assembly). List price is closer to $1700 I think.

You are going to be in for a rude awakening if you think low ball parts store and eBay level stuff is going to be a good fit for this car. You may want to just pass the car along if that is your intent. I'd buy that car all day long for $500 and put a new head on it if needed.

lol, I never said I was going to intend to put oem parts in it.

I've been selling parts and repairing cars for a while with aftermarket stuff. My intention is 100% to build a cheap vehicle that gets more miles per gallon than my 15mpg Yukon. If it lasts me 2-3 years or 100k I'm a happy guy.

I just flipped a 2.5 subby with bent valves for $600 on the car, and $400 in parts, 245k miles and sold for $3000.

I'm not looking for a pet car, but at the same time I don't want a tercel if you catch what I mean.

Look, I know how you guys feel about these cars, kinda the same way I feel about Harleys, but I have no intention of getting attached to this car.

Sell it and move on then, save yourself the headache. There are cheaper cars out there for your purposes, even if they only can tag 35 MPG.

You said you already bought a cam/lifter kit... where did that come from?

Kobelscmidt cam, cant make out the name on the lifters, looks like Schaefer out of Germany.

Bought these prior to opening up the motor, as tax money came in and I had a few hundred to spend

INA lifters (green packaging, part of Schaefer Group), good stuff. And bearings, all the bolts... ?

Point is, it shouldn't be a drastic jump to swap a head. You may try and contact Franko6 here, as he may even have a reconditioned head he could sell you exchange but may need to charge you something for a core, if you do not want to spend for a new one.

There are also AMC branded heads out there, I am not a big fan of those, and they are usually not much cheaper than the real thing.

You may be able to return whatever you already purchased.

No bearings yet, as I was going to inspect, bolts, nothing yet.

I did check with frank, and honestly if I was interested in a pet car, I would spend the money, but my Yukon, Harley, and drums are my pets.

Been checking local to Raleigh NC trying to find a machine shop that will just address the 1 lifter bore, but my machine shop guy is retiring and doesn't want to get into it.

Well they always needs bearings and bolts, no matter what. Part of the job.

yep, I know about they torque bolts,,, didn't know about the bearings until I started some research on it.... kinda moot now that I need that lifter bore fixed.


Thanks though,, ill keep poking around, maybe see if I can grab a junkyard head, and replace cam and stuff.

Put a junkyard head on it.

I’d buy the new head and sell the cam kit.

Problem with a salvage head is:

These are ONLY from one engine, in one model car, for 1.5 years (so a relatively low number).

They all will have the same issue eventually, so all you can hope for from a salvage head is a core most likely.

They (the salvage yards) will likely know to some extent how in demand these are, and may charge accordingly.

So unless you can get it for $200.... and maybe you can, I don't know. My time is not worth slugging around in a you-pick-it place especially going through all the work to pull a cylinder head off of a BRM while a car is sitting on the ground in some filthy pit.

Our recyclers bring parts to us, but they generally will not take a cylinder head off, they'll sell you the whole engine. And usually a good running "tested" engine (I take that with a grain of salt) is around $500-1500 depending on scarcity and demand. I am sure the you-pick-it-places are less, because you are providing the labor.

I am actually curious to see what a BRM head from a place like that would go for. Keep us posted.

They range anywhere from $175 267 miles away from me to $900, then there are even more that have "call" listed as their price.

I have a vendor that sells reman for semi inexpensive, more than likely with stock cams and what not, ill give that a try, return the cam kit, and buy another cam kit in a couple years if I keep the thing. Ill just keep up on checking the lobes. I do it myself so my time is free. not much effort required to pull the v/c every other oil change.

Oh man, if your time is free please PLEASE come do some work for me! I need the back of my house resided and a deck built. I'll put you up in the basement and feed you too!

lol, my time is free to me.

Hell id build a deck for an iou on a timing belt job.