Should I buy this non jet valve head?

I was picking up some parts for my Raider and one of the desk guys at Autozone asked me if I wanted to buy a non-jet valve head he was running on a Conquest turbo. I'm kind of new, so I thought I'd ask the experts. Dependability matters more than performance to me at this stage, but a few extra HP wouldn't hurt. The head is complete and I'm not sure how many miles on it. He's asking $100. Should I buy it and if I do, how much extra work am I looking at installing that head versus just putting in the jet valve elimination kit (other than actually pulling off the head)? Is it worth the hassle?

the non jet valve head is the way to go over the eliminators - if the heads complete and there are no visible cracks between the valves, then buy it as a spare. It is definately worth the hassle to change the head if you think or have a blown head gasket or a cracked head. Check the head with a straight edge for flatness just to be safe.

I'm hoping I don't have a cracked head. No oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil, but the radiator was about 2 qts low when I picked it up. Hadn't run in a bit from what I understand, so maybe the coolant was just trapped in the block...

Thanks for the info. I'm leaning toward buyng it.

If the guy will let you, have a look at it. For $100 it is worth getting it just in case you need a good spare (and while it's on the bench you can go through the process of getting it inspected, replacing valve stem seals and giving the ports a tidy up) If you buy another jet valve head you will only end up spending the extra cash installing the jet eliminator kit.

It may not have been such a great deal at $80. I broke it down today and the main cam journal is badly scored. I know the cam just rides on the head and rocker pedestals without any bearings, but I see cam bearings listed at parts stores. Do you just and overbore the cam journals and caps and install bearings? There's a guy in town who does good work pretty cheap, but I'm probably looking at another $150. This is getting to be worse than my Jeep was.

RockAuto.Com sells a repair bearing for just such situations. You might look into what's available.

I ran into the same issue with my G63B head. Cam journals were pretty badly worn but I think I had managed to bring it back into service myself. This is the break down of the method I used to remove the cam play in this post - it's not a step by step description with pics (I should've made the effort but I was so annoyed with the condition of the cam journals I just went straight into it) http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin/showthread.php/2566-Intake-manifold-porting-question?p=32110&viewfull=1#post32110