cylinder head rebuilding Options

[SKL1]

Now that the chassis is at the body shop, I've got the engine torn down and am about ready to split the case. '73 2.0. Engine had about 68K miles on it- not doing anything crazy but will put in a carb specific cam and then just a general refreshing with new jugs, bearings etc.
Any recommendations on who to go over the cylinder heads (new guides, valves, re-seating the valve angles, etc)? Looking over Raby's website it looks like he just sells you new heads- don't really think I need that- I'm not trying to make some fire-eatting dragon, just a good reliable driver.
TIA- rebuilt my original 1971 914's engine about 20 years ago so I've forgotten all my sources from back then. Most probably aren't in business anymore anyway! I'm the original owner of that car and it will stay in the family forever...

It's fun to work on my other 914, a '73 2.0. I've known the car since it was a year old- a dear friend had it since then and when he died of a rare cardiac condition a few years ago, his widow gave it to me to safeguard! Unfortunately it had been sitting idle for nearly 15 years so it's been quite a project. But it's a labor of love...

[Jake Raby]

We only sell new heads with enhancements for a very good reason. After near 40 years of service few head castings are worth the expenditure of time and money required to make them a sound investment.

The engine in my 912E isn't a firebreather either, but the heads had over 280,000 miles on them (160K in eight years after my first build of it in 2002) so I threw them away and replaced them with RS+ heads from my store. The engine barely makes 130HP, but I don't want to touch it again for another decade, so I practieced what we preach and tossed the OE heads.

[rick 918-S]

Jakes stuff is top shelf. I will likely get flamed for this but here goes.

An engine with 68K should have very repairable heads. Not every engine rebuild requires brand new off the shelf parts. In theory you figure if your engine was a daily driver and you put 15K on a year, your 1973 engine with 68K would be like rebuilding an engine that stopped running in 1978. Long before we were worried about heat cycling or lack of good parts.And a far cry from 280K...

I would suggest you find your local Harley shop and ask who does their machine work. There are hundreds of good machine shops all working on aluminum cylinder heads and blocks these days. Many with alot closer tolerances that these old air cooled engines.

Oh, and to add a few more things, I just had a set of heads done at the local chevy shop. They could not fly cut the heads they did not have the setup but they had a guy they sub-contract stuff to that ......ready..... does all the local harley guys machine work... Imagine that.