Head gasket etc..

[Sveedy]

sure put them in the trash on top of the seafoam
[/quote]

Well that answered a couple of questions in one wack LOL

[smacknab]

Hey Sveedy,

Heres my headgasket thread from december, its rambling and i needed alot of assurance at that time but you might find some of the info i recieved to be helpful.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=91809&hilit=headgasket

I bought my headgasket and valve stem seals straight from the dealer as "Volvo only" was the recommendation of everyone on the MVS. The volvo valve stem seals were $7 each so ended up costing me almost $150, but i later found out from my thread that tasca sells a pack of 24 volvo seals for almost half that. Mine is a 99 s70 so they might be different, but here is the link https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/volvo-kit-272424

I didn't have to lock my cam shafts as my car doesn't have a variable valve timing on either cam, but I'm not familiar with your car. I just made sure i didnt mix up the intake/exhaust cams and checked the timing marks were right and i was fine.

For the machine work- the guys at the Volvo parts department told me who they use for machining heads and i went to him. He threw my head on the machine right after another one from the volvo dealer and saved me some cost on the set up. He surfaced the head, cleaned both the head and the valve cover (saved me alot of time), lapped some valves and installed the Volvo valve stem seals i brought him for $350 labor and had it done in about 24 hours.

For other stuff to replace while you're in there I imagine most of it has turned up in your research - like the cam seals and intake/exhaust + coolant thermostat housing gaskets. And new Volvo head bolts.
Others also suggested replacing the exhaust studs and nuts, since you'll never have better access to them - i chose not to, but this weekend i took my exhaust manifold off and one nut had frozen to a stud and pulled it out, then another nut had rounded over. So it might be worth doing depending on your car age/milage/climate.

[abscate]

It is a near religious experience to go back to a job and find your new studs and bolts make removal Nirvana.

I just can't bring myself to screw in rusty hardware into a newly tanked cylinder head.

[abscate]

So does that mean that the valve seals that come with the head gasket set from FCP are not to be used ? Toss them and buy another set ?

You are going to get a set of cam seals in the Elwis kit, too, that (most/many/some/all) add to the pile and use Corteco or Volvo

With a simple double cam car -1998 you can think about this, with VVT use the Corteco/Volvo.

[Sveedy]

So now I'm wondering - if FCP sells and warranties the kit as OEM Volvo and Elwis is who they use, then how can all these parts be trash ? Seems like folks would have had so many problems with these assorted seals, that FCP would not continue to use them. Doesn't make sense to by a kit and have to toss so much of it in the trash.

[abscate]

Understand that the warranty covers the part only.

It takes about 2 hours to replace the seal and retime, so that job will be a $200-300 minimum, more if oil has contaminated the timing belt and parts.

The Elwis cam seals may be ok, worth researching

[smacknab]

I used the Ellis cam seals that came with a FCP timing belt kit. Mine is non-turbo and again with no vvt. I haven't had any problems as far as I can tell over the last 7k miles or so. Plus with the FCP warranty as you mentioned, they'll be free to replace as long as you don't mind doing the work

[abscate]

There are lot of then out there.

Ellis are made on the Island in NYC
Elvis are made from blue suede

Elwis are the ones in the kit from FCP

[Sveedy]

I researched and the valve stem seals in the Elwis kit are made by Victor Reinz. Made of Viton ? So I'm thinking that they really can't be bad. Can handle up to 425* and are better than rubber.