98 V70 GLT Opinions on Clearwater Cylinder Heads

[stephansvolvo]

Greetings. Has anybody been charged a core fee from Clearwater ? How much if I may ask? Just curious to how much they value a core.
Also, what parts did those of you who have used them send in ( head only, head and cover, head cams and cover) ?

There was no charge for the core. If you do not return yours before the time limit they will change you I think it was 100 bucks. They send you everything and whatever is out of the box you put back in. It was very simple and easy. They send you cams, head, cover all the innards. My journals were cracked and they accepted it back.

[clifford06]

Greetings. Thanks for the reply. Just curious, do they use aftermarket valves ? If so , would anybody know what brand ?

[adkblues]

Just bought a head from them for our '97 960/V90. Purchased from Ebay and it arrived in two days by FedEx ground -- seemed well packed. I don't have a great deal of experience with remanufactured heads but it seemed to be in pretty good condition. Everything was well-lubed and residual metal shavings were minimal. The head was painted and the sealing surfaces had been cleaned up and machined. Threads were chased and undamaged. Valves were new, unsure of the springs. Cams were installed. Lifters were used but in better condition than the ones on my car at 242k.

I installed it earlier this week and the car fired right up. It runs better than ever. Thus far my experience has been positive and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

They were responsive to all our communications, both phone and email. Hopefully no issues with my core return but there are some marks on the upper head sealing surfaces where I had trouble prying it apart so I guess we will see. The Ebay cores have a 60 day return period.

-AR

[MadeInJapan]

I bought one from them a few years back. I think it was a fine head but the installer local to me messed it up by not using cam locks and I had to get my original head planed and re-used it. It was time and $$ wasted but it wasn't there fault.

[wizechatmgr]

I used them many years ago for a 99 Jetta. Everything was great as well. Came with a then non-helpful fridge magnet that I hoped to never use

There also used to be a place in (VA - maybe Portsmouth or Chesapeake?) called The Cylinder Head Factory. I got 2 heads for an old Subaru boxer engine there ~15 years ago. Those also were great. One of mine going to them was cracked and they couldn't care in the least when asked about it.