A novice tackles the head gasket thread

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Dropped the head off at the shop. The guys thought it looked "really good compared to what we normally get"

Here's some pics. Valves look good. There is some gunk around the cooling ports? jackets? what do you call them?

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Also, spent another $200 on head bolts with beno today. A few of the originals were a little too close to reuse and I just bit the bullet for peace of mind with new bolts.
 
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Subscribed and following closely. I am doing this when I get back from my deployment along with all the other "while you're in there" PM. Gettin after the front axle as well. Also a novice but I want to learn my cruiser and buy some goodies too from the savings in labor costs.

Detroitstyle, if you had access to a lift, hoist, and engine stand, would you pull the whole kit and kaboodle now that you have gotten this far? I am stationed at Fort Carson, CO and I have access to the self-help car shop on post. You can check out nearly every tool a mechanic could need along with renting the bay, lift, hoists, and stand for very, very cheap. It prevents any after-hours or late night work so I'm weighing the options and was wondering your opinion since you're also a self-proclaimed novice.

Great work so far brother.
 
2MinutesTurkish said:
Subscribed and following closely. I am doing this when I get back from my deployment along with all the other "while you're in there" PM. Gettin after the front axle as well. Also a novice but I want to learn my cruiser and buy some goodies too from the savings in labor costs.

Detroitstyle, if you had access to a lift, hoist, and engine stand, would you pull the whole kit and kaboodle now that you have gotten this far? I am stationed at Fort Carson, CO and I have access to the self-help car shop on post. You can check out nearly every tool a mechanic could need along with renting the bay, lift, hoists, and stand for very, very cheap. It prevents any after-hours or late night work so I'm weighing the options and was wondering your opinion since you're also a self-proclaimed novice.

Great work so far brother.
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In that case, yes, I probably would. ALTHOUGH... having it up on a hoist would make doing this same process much easier. I guess it would probably be a wash.

Yes, I am a novice... so pulling the engine would involve disconnecting the trans... and I know nothing of that. However, I would imagine it would allow you to check things like the rear main seal and do that at the same time.

I'm having my EGR blockoff plates made tomorrow, and doing a few other small things on Friday (wife is off work, so I will have the morning). Then it's game on for Sat/Sun to try to put this pig back together!

Ready to be done with it and driving it again!
 
jcardona1 said:
Yeah I bought my ARP studs for about $170. OEM head bolts are way too much money for having a limited life. ARPs can be re-torqued indefinitely.
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Considering that most of us do one HG project during the course of ownership, the OEM head bolts can be re-used. Of course, I'd check the specs on the FSM just to make sure that the bolts are within tolerances.

Now, if you're going FI route that's a whole another can of worms!
 
alia176 said:
Considering that most of us do one HG project during the course of ownership, the OEM head bolts can be re-used. Of course, I'd check the specs on the FSM just to make sure that the bolts are within tolerances.

Now, if you're going FI route that's a whole another can of worms!
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I guess my thought is if you're changing the studs out anyways and the cost is about the same, and ARP gives the benefit of doing FI in the future (even if you don't plan to, you might change your mind or a future owner might want to), why wouldn't you go ARP?
 
Rookie2 said:
I guess my thought is if you're changing the studs out anyways and the cost is about the same, and ARP gives the benefit of doing FI in the future (even if you don't plan to, you might change your mind or a future owner might want to), why wouldn't you go ARP?
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Exactly. If you have to buy a new set of bolts, it makes no sense to buy OEM which cost more and can't be re-torqued. I don't think the head on mine was ever removed and when I took it apart a few of the bolts were completely trashed and stretched out.

You can see where the threads were thinner than the rest

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I thought ARP didn't make bolts for our truck? That guys were using Supra sets and modifying them? I didn't want to get into that. And FI is NOWHERE in my future ;)
 
Wife made these for me today. :)

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jcardona1 said:
Exactly. If you have to buy a new set of bolts, it makes no sense to buy OEM which cost more and can't be re-torqued. I don't think the head on mine was ever removed and when I took it apart a few of the bolts were completely trashed and stretched out.

You can see where the threads were thinner than the rest
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My FSM manual page EG-45 says " if any cylinder head bolt is broken and deformed, replace it."

So, they can be re-used if they meet specs. I've done this on both 80s.

In your case, your bolts were messed up so I'd have used ARPs as well.
 
Rookie2 said:
Okay, so what's this game plan for blocking off the EGR? Have I missed a thread somewhere on why you do this?
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I'm still researching frantically for what is required for the basic EGR removal.

At this point, from what I understand, I will be placing a blockoff plate on the back of the head and another on the intake manifold. There are also two vacuum lines on the throttle body that I believe I have to loop to each other?

Hoping somebody can advise.

Again, this is just from my research here, but the advantages are:
1. Ease in reinstalling the head
2. Less crap building up in the intake manifold
3. Reduces damage to the wiring harness from the heat of the EGR system
4. Cleaner looks
 
DetroitStyle said:
I thought ARP didn't make bolts for our truck? That guys were using Supra sets and modifying them? I didn't want to get into that. And FI is NOWHERE in my future ;)
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Yeah that's right. I used the Opel V6 kit. The two front head bolts need a bit trimmed off, takes 15 minutes with a Dremel :)

alia176 said:
My FSM manual page EG-45 says " if any cylinder head bolt is broken and deformed, replace it."

So, they can be re-used if they meet specs. I've done this on both 80s.

In your case, your bolts were messed up so I'd have used ARPs as well.
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Correct. OEM bolts are torque-to-yield meaning they stretch as they're torqued down. I debated buying new bolts for a while. But the more I read, the more folks said they felt like the stock bolts were stretching and being over-torqued as they cranked them down even after measuring within spec, especially with the funky torque specs involving two 90º sweeps. That's why I just said hell with and went with ARP which are race proven for high boost applications.
 
Another batch of noob ?s coming up...

I realize that I do not have the engine at TDC.

How do I turn it? Just put that 30mm socket on the crank bolt and go?
Is it too late to turn it in it's current state? (can it be done with somebody else holding and matching the turns with the cam chain?)

Once I get it to TDC... and I reinstall the cams, I just need to make sure the double dots are aligned and the single dots are exactly opposite?
 
Did you have it at TDC before you took the head off? I thought you had to in order to get the head to lift off right, put the service bolt in etc..

I would assume you could turn it while the head was off and that's what people did to get the piston heads up so they could clean them, but I'm not for sure about that. Of course you want to make sure you are at the right TDC and not a revolution off.
 
I did not have it at TDC when I took the head off. Cams, head, etc came off easily without it being at TDC.

Nervous now :frown:
 
jcardona1 said:
Doesn't matter how you took it off. Just follow the steps in the FSM to reassemble. Where are you at right now? What's assembled and what's not?
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It's at the halfway point right now. Just picked the head up from the shop today. Looks good.

I have to clean the block tomorrow... debating on cleaning the pistons. Seems like it's a lot of work with no real benefits other than looking pretty for a day or two?

Then it's on to reassembly...
 
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