Happy Father's Day

When last we left our hero (me) I had just purchased a set of tins from Gary LeBlanc of Suburban Engine and looking down after the transaction to see what else was at hand, I saw a pair of grey boxes marked AMC.

I nearly choked. Inside were *new* AMC heads which had already had their wear components replaced! I inquired and Gary chuckled hollowly. "I've been trying to sell these for the last nine months. Everyone's scared of them. They ask me, 'Who did the valve job? What are the materials? Did they do everything?'

"I can only say what I know: I've had them on my flow-bench and all four valves are sealed tight to their seats. No leaks. I don't know if it is a 45 degree cut, a three angle job, or lapped to a perfect fit. But I know it don't leak. There's been die grinding just beneath the spark plug bore on the inside of the combustion chamber. No one does that if they're not CC'ing the head. And no one bothers to CC a head that they're just slapping together. Who ever built these used a new casting, replaced all of the wear parts, CC'd the head and then meticulously marked each valve for what sides the heads should be installed on."

When I found my voice again I asked why he didn't just use them. Surely he's still doing Type 4 engines. Gary demurred that his reputation was all he had, and if he put that set of heads (which he did not know who built them, nor what quality of parts they were assembled with) on a customer's engine and the thing et itself in 20,0000 miles, his reputation would be damaged. Also, how do you warranty or vouch for something that you don't know where or who it came from?

"Oh no," he said, stridently. "I might put it in my own car, because if they grenade the engine, it'll be me who's pushing it. But not in a customer's car, and I won't offer any guarantee on these heads to you, either. They may be the work of a master inside. Or they may be a fluff 'n buff job. I don't know and I've got too much to do to play with them to find out. If you want 'em, they're $100 apiece."

At this point I struggled to keep from wetting myself. $200 complete? $200?!?

When I started this quest for new heads, the first stop was the figure $1600, which caused all of the blood to drain out of my head. That was two new AMC castings with the wear parts replaced with the finest materials and reworked by one of two master builders: Adrian at Headflow Masters in Vista, California or Len Hoffman at H.A.M. in Athens, Georgia.

Having decided that I was willing to live with less than the perfect best, I shopped for the 'next best' which I assumed was new AMC heads alone. $800 for a pair was the best price I ever found. And I could drive around with my fingers crossed that I wasn't going to drop a valve seat and bugger up the engine.

Then, having discovered that Adrian at Headflow Masters would rebuild an original VW Type 4 head if it didn't need welding, I contacted him for pricing on this. I have two butt-ugly Type 4 heads that I could take to Adrian and for $700, have the $1600 hand worked quality on stock castings. Still, we're talking about a lot of green. Not that I begrudge Adrian the money for his labors. It's the dual embarrassment of not having such monies at hand, and having to fly to California with these two dog-eared, gooey cylinder heads in my luggage to deliver them to Adrian.

So now, suddenly, I found myself at a dilemma: These heads show every sign of having been carefully rebuilt by someone who *really* pays attention to detail (the CCing of the heads) and are in prime condition and seal well.

Am I willing to buy a pig in a poke?

I asked Gary for twenty minutes to think about it. He laughed and said I was the first person to properly take the heads out of the box, inspect them, ask questions, and notice details about them that said a lot about the machinist who must have worked them. Everyone else just stared and then walked away. I said I'd be back in 20 minutes either way.

So wandered off to find a few of my friends. Chris (fuser on thesamba) was vending from his work bus which had monster truck suspension and required a rope ladder for passengers to mount. I had bought some bits from him earlier in the day and we had chatted about thesamba and some of the bits I was buying. So I asked if he knew Gary from Suburban Engine.

Gary? Everyone knows Gary. Quality Brother. What's up.

So I told him about the mystery heads. And his face fell. And then I told him the $200 price, and he started pulling hairs out of the back of his hand. "If I had known," said Chris tensely, "That Gary was selling run-ready Type4 heads of any stripe, I would have kicked you in the shins then outrun you to buy them. But since you've asked me about them, I'm honor bound to answer your question. Don't just stand here, you jackass, get back over there before someone else buys them!"

Which pretty much made up my mind on site. The final kicker was when I strolled up to Gary and said I'd take them, he said archly, "You got any kids?" Which kind of knocked me off my stride. What did this have to do with....?

Sure. Two kids, a nine year old boy who couldn't care less about my bus and my six year old daughter who loves it so much she wants to move into it even though its been up on jacks for six months.

Gary smiled. "Happy Father's Day. Gimme $150."

So through the generosity of others (both financially and informationally) I've just jumped the whole process ahead by WEEKS, and cut my engine rebuild cost almost in half.

Happy Father's Day indeed. Thanks Gary. Even if the heads don't work out, thanks.