What a _wonderful_ day. My ghia attempted suicide. 15 miles between jobs, and suddenly i'm trailing smoke like a stricken fighter. Even the passenger compartment had clouds of smoke.
Pulled over, realized damage was done, continued on on 3 cylinders, with people behind me seriously irritated :)
This car was bought by my grandmother, for my son; everything is a surprise. Engine pull revealed 92x69mm. The dual-port had not swallowed a valve, as I had thought, but sucked a valve guide out of the head. Unfortunately, part of the guide made it into the cylinder, leaving the head and the piston crown, shall we say, sparkly.
Now I'm in a huge bind. What should I do? Jeez! Has anyone looked at the price of heads these days?
Not knowing what heads these are, can I safely get only one (matching valve sizes, of course).
Should I just get a valve guide?
OK - I'm a licensed aircraft mechanic, and I'm not stupid (or maybe just slightly) but, at the moment, I'm seriously limited on cash! I'm saving every dime to get my wife and kids here.
Correct: Replace both heads, and all 4 barrel/pistons
OK: Match head, replace cylinder/piston
Desperate: Stick a new guide in a hole that has proven unable to retain a guide, and hope that the battered metal in the combustion chamber doesn't create pre-ignition hotspots.
All opinions are welcomed.
TIA guys.
Lemme go cry now :(
Chris