Little brother toasted his head on his '83 242TI. The machine shop says there are cracks in the jackets surrounding two cylinders, so the thing is junk.

We're looking into replacement heads. We can get a Volvo reman for $700 (this is my preference), and have found used heads from some of the big AZ yards with various warranties and levels of rebuild for around $250-300. Problem is that money is the issue right now for him and I'm sure as heck not going to spend my weekend going to every Pick n Pull in So Cal in search of the perfect low mileage head for 10 bucks that will inevitably be crap when I finally get it pressure-tested.

So far, Hirsch Foreign seems to be at the top of our list because they pressure test their heads and put in new valve seals (I think somebody in this chain of communication means valve guides, but I'm not sure - I'm not the one doing the calling). Anybody have any experience with them, or is there a recommendation on other places in the Los Angeles area that provide decent parts for a fair price? (Thomas Volvo doesn't have anything, BTW). Willing to go to other parts of the country, provided shipping isn't too bad.

Thanks for the $0.02.