Thanks, Shannon, for the link to my galleries.

I would agree with Bruce's evaluation: with ~60K miles on the head you pulled at the yard, it really should not require a lot of work. But, some things would be very good to do while it is off.

Looking at the pics you posted, the deck looks like it is still flat: the fire rings look like they were not compromised. The areas around the coolant passages show the typical discoloration/corrosion that happens during the ~19 years it has been in service.

Chances are decent that that head has not been shaved. [which is why it was suggested to measure the cylinder head height thickness: to confirm if, or how much has been shaved.] Unshaved is good....more metal in the deck; stronger deck.

I suggest that you clean the deck. A fine bristle wire wheel, or a brass bristle wire wheel in an electric drill, can clean the HG residue and coolant residue off the deck without gouging the deck surface. Then, check for FLAT. Just to make sure that it IS, or that it is not. If only warped a few thou, you 'could' go with it as is. That is a judgement call.

[...I'm running a SCP head on my B21FTi that had a 'perfect' 5 thou warp. It's doing fine after 15K+ miles.]

If warped more than about 4 or 5 thou, you do need to check the cam bearing journals for alignment. The 'rule of thumb' max allowable misalignment for OHC cam journals is 4 thou.

[...which affects partly why I chose to install the 5 thou warped head: to have had the head surfaced to restore FLAT, I would have then needed to have the cam journals align honed. As it turned out, once the head was back on and torqued carefully and properly, the cam journals came back into perfect alignment.]

Chances are VERY good that the valve stems and the valve guides are fine. I have yet to have to replace any valve guides on any of the SOHC heads....if the head was otherwise usable [not cracked or badly warped]. The valve to guide clearance specs for our SOHC heads allows for a considerable [comparatively speaking] amount of clearance. Normally the clearances will run about about 1 and a half thou or so on the intakes, and 1 and a half to 2 and a half thou on the exhaust. The max allowable clearance is 6 thou. I like to have ~2 thou on the intakes, and ~3 thou on the exhausts...especially for a boost motor.

Regarding valve spring compressors: you can use a C-clamp type compressor, with an adapter to get down inside the head. I have, use, and love my Schley valve spring compressor. It is perfect for the job. Which to go with is yours to choose.

Replace the intake valve stem seals...you are there. New ones won't hurt; and they come in the HG set. New hushers....of course.

Lap the valves as a minimum effort. If you 'want' to do a valve grind, or go for a 3 angle grind, that is a choice for you to make. With that few miles on that head, lapping the valves to the seat will bring the sealing back up to like new.

If you want to do some 'smoothing and blending' on the bowls and transitions to remove the imperfections and excess metal left over from the factory machining when the head was built originally, I can tell you that such 'smoothing and blending' does help flow, and does give a bit better performance. You do not have to get crazy with the carbide burrs. Just smooth and blend.

Do make sure that there are no sharp edges in the combustion chambers. If you do have the head surfaced, be sure to radius the sharp edges aound each combustion chamber. Sharp edges make for glowing hot spots, which can result in pre-ignition or detonation. So: NO SHARP EDGES in a CC!!!

If you find that the head is flat, and you want to make the deck nice, clean and smooth, you can 'lap' the deck with some very fine wet-n-dry paper. I use a 1 X 1 X 11 inch parallel bar with different grits �𖑔 to 1000] to gently lap the head deck so that it ends up really SMOOTH. I need them that smooth for when I install a MLS HG. But, I like the decks to be that smooth just cuz it helps the HG to be able to seal the coolant passages better as well.

Regarding the head bolts in the motor in your car: chances are very good that you will NOT have any problem with any of them breaking. I haven't had a Volvo HB break off yet [fingers now crossed/knock on wood]. I have had some of the 'old' style HBs [in hex 10mm head] round off the in hex, and NOT want to come out; but have never had a problem with the 'new' style HBs that your motor has.

You do not have to worry about valve rotation: they DO rotate. As do the tappet 'buckets'. And they are supposed to rotate.

Regarding camshaft choice: the M cam that you have is 'okay'. But, if you would like just a bit better off-the-line 'pull', a T cam would be better than the M. Changing camshafts does necessitate checking and adjusting the valve lash.

It looks like you found yourself a good replacement head. With some careful attention, and some careful work, it can give you a lot more than 100,000 Km of good service.

good luck. And I hope you find my galleries to be assistive.

TF