MSA rebuilt head - any experiences?

[rdefabri]

Arne,

Yes, I am interested in hearing how you make out, this might be an avenue I'll look into shortly as well.

5 angle job = real...extrudehone = questionable. Somewhere I have an article that refutes the benefits of "extrude honing". Again, I am in Marketing/Product Management - there are multiple analyses you can execute to determine the value or the ROI of any product/service. "Extrude honing" is one that you will see minimal results for the investment provided. I also possess an SCCA racing license, and I do understand that when it comes to racing, even micro tuning yields an edge, which is where something like this has more value.

On the street it means bupkus. In any event, you didn't start the thread for this purpose, I did not intend to debate, my apologies...I AM obviously suffering from brain fade (maybe even damage) from my previous post!

[deadflo]

Arne and everybody. There is a guy on ebay that goes by the handle "ru gellis" (sp?) . he has been selling all manner of L series heads for some time, and claims to have 50 folks who have bought heads from him that are good references. I have a message in to him to see what else what might be in the works soon. The heads sell for reasonable prices, like 350-400 or so depending on what they are. They are mosly all stock rebuilds.I wonder if anyone here has dealt with him?

[rdefabri]

Just make sure you factor in shipping when buying via eBay. The size/weight can bump this up somewhat - get a quote from then seller prior to making a bid on something that seems reasonably priced.

MSA does huge volumes, so their shipping is going to be ultra-cheap in comparison to a smaller eBay type.

I will check out the "ru gellis" guy - see what I find and let you guys know.

[deadflo]

The RU gellis guy wants 80 bucks to ship.

[Arne]

I'm not comfortable dealing with someone who hides their feedback. Plus I recall someone here that got one of his heads not long ago that was a mess. I'll have to do a search.

Short version - I don't think I'm comfortable with one from ur-gellis.

Edit - There are several threads here about ur-gelis, most of them are not complimentary. At least one person here got a bad head from him. Look at:

http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20597

http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20714

[madkaw]

i would NOOTTTT recommend URGELIS from ebay. He tryed to **** me over on some SU's that were "rebuilt" and ready to put together. Oh---he forgot too mention the carbon build up in the pistons and don't mind the SAND BLASTED carb bodies and the missing bits. Only after I slammed him did he give me my money back. I have heard other NEGATIVES too. His feedback is PRIVATE if that says anything

[rdefabri]

You guys are onto it -- never buy from an eBayer that hides feedback. I also run an eBay business, that's the kiss of death.

[deadflo]

Man I'm sorry somebody had to find out about UR gellis the hard way! on the other hand, thanks to our site we can hopefully warn others. I was certainly enlightened. I had just emailed him to find out more about what he had in stock, no reply yet.

BTW, there is another guy, I will check for his name, that does porting on completed L series heads over at zcar.com.

He sells the heads complete and then has you send him a core. Anybody know who i'm talking about? he has a website with some pics of him working on the heads.

[deadflo]

Here is the link to the fellow that does the custom head work.

http://www.bandmzcars.com/headporting1.html

Arne I know you're lookig for stock but does anyone know more about this guys work?

[Arne]

Well, on my end, I think I have finally found a local machine shop who both knows L-series heads and that is not dedicated to only doing race-quality head prep. He has a good local rep, and the local Nissan dealer has used him for years for machine work. Still going to cost me a bit more than I had originally hoped, but probably less than the $500-550 that the MSA head would cost by the time you add shipping both ways to it. Plus I'll get to keep my original (not re-ground) cam. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

[hls30.com]

More misinformation and misrepresentation from "UR-Gellis" that shows ur-gellis thinks that everybody but him should go by the handle "UR-Stupid".

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DATSUN-240Z-Z-260-280Z-STOCK-OEM-NEW-CHROME-VALVE-COVER_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6763QQitemZ8068289358QQrdZ1

Seems he thinks all of these aftermarket and modified parts are NOS and OEM!

This guy actually knows better, and is only out to sell his parts-regardless of any misrepresentation, misinformation, or bold faced lieing he must do.

I would avoid his auctions no matter what they were for, because you cannot trust him to be honest in his descriptions(the proof is above, and typed by his own hand) He is such a dishonest person, he will probably modify the auction blurb, so here are several titles cut and pasted:

DATSUN 710 510 620 NOS NEW OEM 240Z Z BILLET OIL CAP Item number: 8068285593

None of the cars listed ever had a billet aluminum oilcap from nissan(or datsun)

DATSUN 240Z Z 260 280Z STOCK OEM NEW CHROME VALVE COVER

While the valve cover may have been a NOS version before it was polished and plated(very, very, doubtful), once it was modified in any way it was no longer STOCK OEM or NEW-There was never a polished let alone chrome plated NOS stock version available from Nissan (or Datsun).

It is difficult enough to find high quality used and NOS parts with out someone who actually knows the difference lieing in his ads. He is hoping for a lazy newby like the one that paid $1200 plus for a pair of Maxima brake adaptors that are still available from any nissan dealer! While it is not the responsability of a seller to reveal his parts sources, it is the responsability of a seller to give an honest description using the best of his knowledge, and this seller (UR-GELLIS) knows these parts are in some cases NOT NOS, OEM or Stock.

Will

[GreenZZZ]

Caught this thread late...

I have an E31 that I bought off IZCC something like 15 years ago and I run it on my 2/72 Z car. MSA rebuilt it for me two years ago. I think they did a nice job but I'm no expert. I did notice spacers underneath the cam towers. They replaced 4 valves, probably with used parts, and I got the same head back. They had to heli-coil several manifold stud mounts and this was done quite well. Car runs real nice and smooth, but it does ping at times at 2200 to about 3200 RPMs on uphills even with 93 octane. Car was smoking on upshifts before the rebuild. Now very clean looking exhaust and peppy performance. I just slapped on the head gastket MSA sold me.

Should I worry about the ping or just pull the plugs every 1K miles to see if I'm killing my engine?

Lee

IZCC #78...