80 series head gasket as preventative maint?

[Sporin]

haha! Sadly, I haven't managed to get down to Springfield to do it, I know this sounds pathetic, and it is, and I accept your ridicule.

We have 3 cars this winter, our DD 08 Accord, my inlaw's 96 Accord, and the Cruiser, so there's been no "need", and money has been tight. It WILL happen for Feb. though.

 

[fogblanket]

ok I can understand that I thought yo were suffering from pig int he gargae syndrom again. I had 3 running cars in the family for 2 months and it was very hard to keep running them all. it was particularly hard to go from the lv to the fj62 I kept reaching for the stick and trying to find the clutch with my left foot. braking was the same though I think I had idenitcal set ups in each cruiser.
anyway Dave prolly smart to keep a full season of salt off of it.
jason

 

[Sporin]

that's what I keep telling myself, plus the old Accord, for the 1 or 2 times a week we need 2 cars, gets 30MPG easily.

I've been picking up more freelance jobs so hopefully the purse strings will loosen up a bit before wheeling season.

 

[peepers]

for me it will be at least 2K plus labor and blah blah blah... at least $3k all in i figure.

 

[landtank]

for me it will be at least 2K plus labor and blah blah blah... at least $3k all in i figure.

there has to be some 80 guys around and suggest a few pub nights and be generous with the beers, then drop the bomb about needing help with the HG.

 

[Chaldaean]

Having just found out my HG is junk a few days ago (here), I now have a more solid perspective on "80 series head gasket as preventative maint?". I'll echo a bunch of others and say, I really do think it's a good idea. All of the following is common sense, but the sting of their recent effect has really come to the forefront.

PM is on your own terms -->

(A) ENVIRONMENT: The only thing that really bothers me about being forced to do this HG repair due to failure is that it happened in the winter. I was actually looking forward to taking apart the truck in the summer as preventative maintenance and riding my bike to work as things get patched up. Now, I've got the NH cold to deal with.
(B) PREPARATION: Additionally, with PM, you can do some leisurely research, talk to some folks, find out about all the "while you are in there" items, order the parts and have them on your workbench before you park your truck and begin work. Conversely, I am now scrambling to do all this very quickly.
(C) INDEPENDENCE: My 80 is my DD and I had to rely on the quick-acting goodwill of my friends and family to borrow a loaner car in the mean time. With PM, I could have planned this better.
(D) SCHEDULING: With personal commitments and cross-country trips in my near future; wrenching time will be difficult to find. PM can be scheduled to suit your needs.
(E) PEACE OF MIND: More than once, I have been in the middle of a great wheeling trip and the thought of a blown HG has popped into my mind. It would be a poor shame to ruin the trip and be stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Speaking of my headgasket....

there has to be some 80 guys around and suggest a few pub nights and be generous with the beers, then drop the bomb about needing help with the HG.

Hey......I know some places that serve beer....

I really kidding, though. I'm going to take this repair as slowly as possible and learn as much as I can cram into my head along the way.

Thanks all. Ah, hope you don't mind a non-Yankee Toys member posting in your threads. I was looking forward to joining the YT ranks at FG08, but the timing didn't work out. Cheers.

 

[Sporin]

Rick and Nat and I worked out a very loose "plan" while they were here...

Weekend #1: Have guys over, camping in backyard, placated with beer and bbq, dismantle, send head back with Rick to his guy for prep
Week: use that week to clean up and replace other parts and basically get it ready for the head to go back on
Weekend #2: Repeat weekend #1 putting head back on and finishing it all up.

Thankfully, my Cruiser isn't my primary vehicle or this gets a lot more complicated.

 

[rapovt]

Rick and Nat and I worked out a very loose "plan" while they were here...

Weekend #1: Have guys over, camping in backyard, placated with beer and bbq, dismantle, send head back with Rick to his guy for prep
Week: use that week to clean up and replace other parts and basically get it ready for the head to go back on
Weekend #2: Repeat weekend #1 putting head back on and finishing it all up.

Thankfully, my Cruiser isn't my primary vehicle or this gets a lot more complicated.

Let me know if I can help Dave

 

[Hypoid]

I'm sure you've thought of this, but

1 week before weekend #1 order all the parts you know you need.

Monday of the week between order stuff that you didn't know you'd need. Nat had a surprisingly expensive sensor disintegrate in his hand, and I kicked a knock sensor apart while sitting in the engine bay cleaning pistons.

Great time to deal with/replace any EGR junk.

Definitely up for giving you, Rick, and The Homunculus a hand. If nothing else, I'm great for making fun of. For instance, I've had to get pulled out of Rick's driveway, twice. Combine that with being friends with Nate, and the jokes flow freely.