MY BRAVO 1.4 STALLED AT A ROUNDABOUT WOULD NOT TURN OVER SO IT WAS TKEN TAKEN TO A GARAGE WERE THEY TOLD ME THE CAMSHAFT HAD SIEZED AND WOULD COST MEGA BUCKS £800+ WOULD THERE HAVE BEEN VALVE PISTON CONTACT AS THE TIMING BELT IS OK. I WOULD LIKE TO REPLACE THE CAMSHAFT MYSELF BUT ONCE I TAKE THE CAM OUT HOW DO I GET THE VALVE TIMING BACK WITH THE NEW SHAFT ANY ANSWERS THANKS.

As the value of the car is alot less than the cost to replace you might be better cutting your losses and buying another.. suggest you dont go for a 1.4 (not because of the head damage - but for other reasons as they're not the most economical or powerful of the range.)

Yeah plus replacing the camshaft doesn't cure the fault.

the cam failed because your head is starved of oil, its a very common problem on the 1.4. you need to clean inside the oil bar that covers the cam, and the oil pick up pipe that supplies that oil bar. its very important to ensure good oil circulation on the 1.4, if you dont then your new cam wont last very long at all.

best thing to do in my opinion is get a scrapyard head and fit it.

you can use the timing tools to set the timing, or ask a garage for a quote to fit the head, it should cost £150 for parts and labour (including new timing belt), then another £50 for the scrapyard head. job done for £200 and it adds value to the car.

when you get the car back and working the first thing to do is add 2 cans of engine flush to the engine oil and run it for 15 mins on a high idle. then drain old oil out, fit new oil filter and refill with a good quality 10w40 semi synthetic.

How about swapping the whole engine bought at scrappys?

Wouldn't it be less work and money?

swapping the whole engine over can sometimes work out cheaper, but it isnt as easy to collect a full engine from a scrapyard. you can carry a head yourself, even remove it from the scrap car if you need to, and stick it in the boot of another car easily so its convenient. moving an engine is more of a hassle.

Thanks for the advice. I have taken the camshaft cover off and it is lack of oil to the cam lobes, so I think I will go for the s/h head.

Just make sure the 2nd hand one doesnt have the same damage, as its common for the 1.4 to get clogged up.