i wouldnt recommend replacing tappets, camshaft, etc because the cost will be huge. a used head will be cheaper but it wont be easy to find a good head. if you really want to keep the car and sort the tapping out then i suggest you try to find a cheap head and somewhere that will fit if for you. expect to pay up to £100 for a head, try to get warranty if possible. its hard to say what the cost will be to fit the head, its a fairly straightforward job, but it will mean you need a new gasket kit (head +inlet +exhaust etc) and you might as well get the timing belt done at the same time unless its relatively new. if you shop about and buy all the required parts yourself you will probably get all the work done for £200 plus the head.
you basically end up paying nearly as much as the car is worth. that wouldnt be a bad thing if it meant you would get years of trouble free motoring, but as i've said many times, repairing the 1.4 isnt a long term solution, especially when you get a used head, you might get 20minutes down the road and find the engine is tapping again and your money has been wasted. many if not most of the 1.4 heads available will already be noisey. the 1.4 was discontinued so long ago that the chances of finding a head with low milage is small. best bet is to find a working engine that sounds good, then remove the head from that and stick it on yours. there is also the option of reconditioned heads that are cheaper if you can exchange your old head for the recon. thing is "reconditioned" doesnt mean the tappets and camshaft will have been changed, in fact reconditoned usually means its had a wipe down with a damp cloth and been sat on a shelf for months.
14-05-2006
