For what it's worth in cases like this, I have had great success in wire brushing the pit marks and applying one of the high temperature 2 pack plastic metals. Once it's cured and sanded flat it will support any part of the gasket as long as it's not inside of the fire ring. Alternatively it can be welded, and if the welder is really good you should be able to skim only a minute amount off of the head to sort it. I have been a motor mechanic since 1963

the guy who sold it to you should of cleaned it and been up front about the heads low points, with pics, careful what you buy chap

Nice one, James. I love your enthusiasm to get stuck in and learn as you go. Well done, matey.

Confidence - buying a new set of tyres before the motor is running :D

We always had access to a couple of machine shop’s (friends) and several speed shops to rely on. You’re absolutely right to deal with the issues now, and you’ll be happier in the end. Part of the fun imho, and we learn a ton along the way. Great honest vid, enjoying your little epic here.

You may find skimming isn't going to remove those pits as some look pretty deep. Skimming is really for flattening a warped head, not taking out pits, and there is a limit to how much you can skim off

I am starting to understand why I see so many older Minis advertised for sale with head gasket issues. It looks like the aluminium head casting are not of the best quality as castings and are not QC'd as perfect in the assembly process meaning that as long as they will work for a while they are judged good enough. This is a real shame as the design is good from a serviceability point of view. Great to see the in's and out's of the strip down - good work.

Great video once again James, really appreciate the content and patience you have when working on your cars. I have learnt a lot from you, shout to you man all the way from South Africa.

Great video James enjoyed this one with a cup of tea 👍 Secretly pleased you ended up having to strip the head though it's quite inspiring watching you getting stuck in, Will be placing a hoody order soon😎

Now I understand why there are so many Minis for eBay for Spares or Repairs. Gearbox failure, head gasket failure (as we know most likely the head is pitted and the water jackets eroded)or "misfiring". I suspect the misfiring is due to water in the cylinders. I would have weighed it in personally, definitely would not have bought tyres for it so early on!

Lovely Jubbly, thanks for another great informative video matey, hope all goes well with the skimming of the head.

Collets, those little parts that hold the valve springs in place. I'd let the engineer works grind the valve seats as well, make it easier to lap the valves back in. Wouldn't surprise me if they don't end up doing some welding on that head to build up the low spots before a skim.

Great video. I have a mini one and I'd love to rebuild the engine and your video has taught me so really good information I didn't know before keep up the good videos. Buy a mini cooper s next :D

Good video, i work on rover k series heads and love it, they dont all need skimming theres a few that i think failed because the bolts were not tight enough - and they had all been done previously.

Keep the old cylinder head in the boot....... Then when you weigh it in you'll get more cash 😎😂

I was going to suggest trying to get a video at the engineering place of the head being skimmed but you are one step ahead of me 👍🏻. Hopefully they’ll let you film as it will be a bit of free publicity for them.

Nice scrape on the exhaust valve on cyl4, you also whacked cyl1 inlet valve a couple of times with the scraper

I want to thank you, just did a small service on my Corsa, I never had the confidence to work on cars, probably coz of my dad, but because of your videos it gave me confidence, oh by the way im 58 years old lol.

Good vid mate. Can't wait to see the progress on the engine. I kinda knew you would have trouble getting the spark plug tubes out as I used to fit them at work in the engine shop. We used an air hammer and they went in about a half inch with red thread lock on them to ensure they wouldn't vibrate out at high rpm. Would recommend thread lock on reinstall if they take them out, also the two grub screws you took out as these would cause havoc to your top end if they came out. Of course you could just tell me to shut up and stop being a fanny lol. Thumbs up....

James love watching your videos makes me want to work on cars myself.

The metal pieces in the valve springs are called collets by the way

Love your videos mate always looking forward to the next video goodluck!

Hi mate I like your videos , hope they sort your mini cylinder head , look forward to the refit vid , cheers mate ,from Tony from bedfordshire 👍👍

that was quality james really enjoyed the video 👌👍

Good work Enjoyed watching....them two plugs you took out are blanking plugs. The holes are left from the manufacture machine processing same as on engine blocks... that why they use core plugs.

Brave to do all this, more energy than me at your age, the couple of head jobs I ever did were enough

Fair play to you for doing this 👍 not for the faint hearted

Great vids James keep up the good work 👍

Been waiting for this James

What are those cut outs at the top of the inlet ports, they seem to be inline with the spark plug tubes. Are there any screws in there holding the tubes in, worth a check maybe.

Cool video's..gotta customer she's has an R50. Drives it like a getaway car..but the pressure test shows the head gasket is ok...it's hot as hell down hear in S E texas so it's always puking on the ground ..these cars aren't built for a 107° ambient so at 96k miles i know a head gasket is coming soon..your video's are going to come in handy..tnks bro.

Good stuff really enjoyed the content, can't wait for the next one

Spring Compressor is for putting the valves back in. If you want to save yourself a heap of time removing the valves get a deep socket stuff a bit of rag up inside (leave plenty of space for the collets to jump into) stick a pad of rag in the combustion chamber. Place the head flat on the bench and give the socket placed on top of the valve cap a few smacks with a hammer (you have an old spare head to practice on). Everything will separate, collets will jump out and cap and spring pop up. It is really quick. Cleaning carbon from valves is quick in a drill press, tape the top of the stem and stick them in the chuck (hand tighten only) Use a blade or scraper first if they are really dirty then emery cloth. Only clean the dirty part do not clean the part above which goes into the Valve guide, also go easy on the valve seats if you are only going to lap them in and not regrind them.

Great video,, how do you get them spark plug tubes out ??

Big cam, port and polish while it's apart

Great video mate. Not all jobs go to plan. 😎👍

Good video my young James,great content

Great job pal getting ready to do the head gasket on my 2l d4d Diesel engine 07 Toyota avensis any advice

I really dig the large hatchback saloons you have in the U.K.

Practice taking off the spark plug tubes on the old head. I'd put a suitable sized socket inside the tube and grab the outside with a stilson. It'll either kill it or cure it.... put the tubes in the freezer when reinstalling them.

Loving this project

Enjoying the Mini vids

james seen a set of wheels ie new tyres all dressed in aerospace 303 tread and all 80k miles on them and still many more k miles left on them im due new tyres mine will be getting it just a thought you might want to try

Surely those water jackets need to be built back up? That cylinder looked very bad if you ask me

Finally after all that work it’s completed

Little magnet or magnetic screwdriver to remove the collets, dab of grease on the end of a screwdriver to refit them

One of your loyal fans keep up the good work🖒😉🖒🖒🖒🚘⛽🛣

those little metal bits holding the spring in place are called collets. for future reference

Great vid, always wanted to do something like this, but don’t have the time, room or spare car

Collets I think those bits on top of the valves are called :)

As far as you know, with the cylinder head installed is it possible to take off only one rocker arm to change lifters, without taking off anything else?

Best to have the head skimmed...Little metal things are called collets .

The pieces on the top,of the valves are called collets I think

Looking a little messed up in the same place, must be a common defect area on the heads.

Was ur old head warped? I think ur old head looked a bit better. Just had to change the clutch on my mini but I fear ima have to change the whole thing :(.

Have you got a link to the scotch brite pad and attachment for the angle grinder please? Great content btw 👍

Head looks rough just like your original one? Some of those ports need welding too by the looks of it.

Have these engines been using neat coolant?!?

Hey man. Nice job and channel. What do you recommend someone to Study for automotive engineering. Big thumbs up

the little retaining clips on the valves are called collets

watching you has inspired me to start fixing my car instead of just taking it to the garage 😁

Hi, which grain typ is the brillo pad? 280 or softer (higher)?

My one head gasket gone I need the timing china tools for 2003 Mini Cooper s 1.6 petrol 6 gear manual. Can you help me to find the timing china tool for me

You should do a end price of what each project costs you at the end. Like Wheeler Dealers, a price run at the end of each project.

Is it cast iron I’ve been doing some research to see if I can put some cast iron heads on my mini I don’t know if that’s even a thing but idk

Love your videos, would love for you get an r53 supercharged mini

First Class Upload " J " Baz.

Buy a lot of my stuff from the mini guy, he’s a top bloke and competitive prices too

I wouldn't have been so confident to get new tyres before repairing the rest ;).

have you tried turning anti clockwise on the spark plug tubes?

save those eyeballs ! fook the feet though if the head drops on the white trainers 😕

Nobody using a socket and a hammer to remove valve springs these days??

I’ve got them safety glasses there no cry

Love the flag in the corner, nice one.!!

Might be a novice question but how do you make sure the new head is set the same as the old one to make sure the timing is right?

There colletts that hold vavle springs in Jamie

They are called vale spring collets.

great stuff

collets, alloy heads use a credit card as a scraper with brake cleaner, just a thought,

Arp head studs is the best upgrade you can do it's cheap insurance

the bits that hold the valves are called cotters

What is the price for a new one ?

I suspect incorrect factory recommended coolant is being used in these mini engines at coolant change intervals , some of the cheap universal coolant may look right colour but not sure on there chemical properties , maybe this is why heads are becoming porous , surely a Bmw owned company has good quality control on aluminium casting .

Put hi performance cam kit in it.

That head looks fine to me

The mini series has been probably the most interesting series of 2019.

Suprised you don't need to buy a notched gasket to whatever is machined off to compensate and valve stems At least you have some spare spark plug stems. Maybe you need a hot air gun just to crack them free

been watching this guy's vids on the mini and I think they're very good. Does he really need all the negative know it all comments that some are giving? So many experts lol.

The little metal bit is called a collet lol

I would imagine the spark plug tubes are an interference fit mate. Probably pressed in at the factory with some sort of a hydraulic press with a tool that expands the end of the tube to lock it in there. Knowing its BMW i would imagine it might be "special tool" job to extract and refit them. These BMW heads really seem like trouble. Maybe they haven't had the best of luck with coolant (or the BMW coolant is shit) or there was some porosity in the castings the galvanic action made short work of it. Really enjoying this series mate. Is the Yaris on your drive for the Mrs? haha

top vid good man

Can you get the other one machined flat at the same time and sell it on for a better price?

"Little pieces of metal" are collets

You should check how flat the head is with the tools you have always used then when you take the head to the engineering place get them to measure it to see the difference.

Try to use a breaker bar not a ratchet you're kill your ratchet quite quickly check wear on your rockers strip the rockers down strip the shafts down clear the smudge out the middle on both of them check the wear on your cam check the gear on the end and choose the best from the other one that you have good luck

Collets is the name you were looking for

How much did you pay 30 quid

would be good to see how they mill a head. A fly cutter would do the job but probably not precise enough to mill it

Needs welding like the other head did.... a good place should have no trouble doing it.

Nice