[bavArian]

I'll have to check tomorrow if there's damage in that area, didn't see any while cleaning the block though.
I already removed built up carbon and cleaned the surface with acetone, so any crack should be visible. Wouldn't want to use a steel wire brush as I fear that would scratch the surface. I did use a brass brush to carefully clean the valves from carbon buildup, but I also used a vacuum cleaner to suck up any carbon and dirt while cleaning. The cleanup was surprisingly easy for a change, nothing usually is on that car. :P


It is a stock head as far as I can tell, yeah. I know that higher compression heads are nice to have, but the price for a new head + shipping to Germany is not really worth it to upgrade in my opinion. We're talking at least 700 bucks until it's at my door, shipping costs over the ocean suck.

Even stock heads are not easy to find over here, spare parts sadly are a lot harder to find than in the USA and the things you do find tend to be worn out.



I'm fine with the performance of the stock engine if I can use full throttle to accelerate after reassembly and can cruise at 45 mph without the coolant foaming up as I avoid driving on the highway and the main roads anyway.




EDIT: I installed a new 10 fpi radiator (Snyders A-8005-AX) last year, so I can probably rule out a fauly rad.
I did shake up the anti freeze in the container I drained it into and there was immediate foaming, so maybe it really is anti freeze that only works properly in a pressurized system?
After reassembly I'll run water for some time until the head gasket has fully seated. Should the problem be gone I'll look for another anti freeze or run anti corrosion additives only.