The main reason the F20C head is referred to as the 'king of heads' is its ability to flow air really, really well. It flows so well, in fact, that porting and polishing the head will always result in a loss of some sort somewhere on the dyno curve.
The automatic chain tensioner is removed. The header is separated from the head, so that the head can slide up and out. | 
The valve cover can finally come off. | 
Here, Mike blasts the cam bridge bolts loose using compressed air. Again, the pieces needn't come completely off to allow for removal of the head. |
Rather than mess with an engine that has such an ominous nickname and reputation, we decided to go with a basic three-angle valve job to complement our new valvetrain. A five-angle valve job tends to be redundant and/or impossible in most modern engines, mostly because there simply isn't enough material to hack away to achieve a genuine five angles.
Sometimes the valvetrain needs some convincing, in the form of a three-foot crowbar, to separate from the head. | 
The valvetrain is pulled off (carefully) as a complete assembly. | 
With the valvetrain removed, the timing chain is delicately pulled from the upper gear. |
When the head was removed, we found that our issue wasn't the typical cracked retainer. Instead, something unique had happened, being particularly apparent on cylinder one. Seems the valves had bedded themselves deep into the head, more than likely a result of a poor valve job, which in turn likely followed the sweet third to second move the previous owner had pulled off. In addition to really screwing up the mating surface, the whacking had caused all of the valves to bend, which in turn caused all of the valve guides to be slowly ground away. Sounds like a good time, huh?
The bolt that secures the timing gear must be held in the head at just the right distance, to ensure the washer (pictured) doesn't drop into the assembly when the gear is removed. | 
The head is almost ready to be removed. Bolts are blasted off, front and rear. | 
The last step is removing the head bolts, which is done with a ratchet. |
By the time the car was put back together, the battery was pretty dead - it was the original cell from the medieval year 2000, after all. So we put in a call to Optima Batteries for something with a little more beef. We decided on a Yellow Top, rated at 500 cold cranking amps that would fit right in with no modification. It contrasts with the red valve cover in our engine bay, looking like something of an exercise in Pop Art, but it definitely does the job.
The head comes out in one easy move with two people pulling. | 
Mike bangs the valvesprings free of the retainers to pull the burned valve out and have a closer look. Most of the valves were bent, and there was a good deal more play between the valves and the guides. | 
The culprit is clear, but this sight is rare - the valve has actually embedded itself far into the head, probably as a result of poorly adjusted valves. Turns out the other valves had similar issues, though less visible to the naked eye. |
The S2000 has a new lease on life with its new valvetrain, and purrs at idle like it just rolled off a showroom floor and into our hands. We're anxious to get started on round two of modifications, unfortunately another round that will be mandated by the current condition of the car - wheels and tires. We're sure there isn't supposed to be a steel reflection where the tread pattern used to be, so we'll be ringing Mackin Industries for something forged and BF Goodrich for something sticky. Stay tuned.