New and re-manufactured cylinder heads are usually easily obtainable from vendors, and most stock them for almost all the engines that are available in the current market; it is therefore easier for a home-brew mechanic to purchase a new head instead of going through the tedious process of dismantling the head, only to discover that it cannot be re-used, re-machining it and then re-assembling it. Disassembly means the removal of the intake and
Exhaust Valves with their parts; if they are installed, nuts/bolts as well as pivot balls for the dismantling of rocker arms from cylinder head. Small plastic bags should also be used in labeling and storing of valve train parts so that during reassembly the parts can be returned to their proper positions. It is advisable to identify them with numbers or marks and then assemble them in a manner that will allow them to be fitted in the correct valve guides. A valve spring compressor is fitted to compress the spring for the first valve so that the keepers, retainer, shield, springs, valve guide seal, spring seat, and the valve can be removed. If a valve binds in the guide, you have to deburr the region around the keeper groove, sometimes. The same should be done for the other valves; all parts for each valve should be placed together in the same compartment. When all the valves are removed and all are safely stored, the head must also be properly cleaned and evaluated; in the case of a total engine teardown for rebuilding for a total overhaul prior to the cleaning and evaluating of, say, the head, it should be continued.