Head Gasket and "While You're in There" (1 Viewer)

[Mighty690]

I bought this low mile, clean, Newport Beach mall cruisin', rust free '93 with a blown head gasket. It's my second 80 Series and won't be my last. I didn't need oil analysis to inform me - it was pouring its coolant into an oil passageway. Milkshake city. I trailered it home and then dumped the oil and coolant. With fresh oil, some Marvel Mystery, and no coolant it ran briefly like the sweet sewing machine it should be. Michael Hein of West Coast Cruisers convinced me to "do it right." So today I/we finished pulling the engine. I thought I'd share photos of the journey.

 

[Mighty690]

I'll be splitting off that huge transmission and was advised to pull off the transfer case to make it that much more moveable. Edit: I didn't mess with the transfer case. Just left it as is.
Scot

 

[rc51kid]

that is a big old hunk of "stuff" right there.

 

[landtoy80]

Why pull everything vs just pulling the motor?

 

[Mighty690]

Why pull everything vs just pulling the motor?

Good question. Pulling the tranny with the engine is easier/better than separating the two in the vehicle. No easy access to bolts. In terms of preparing for pulling the engine, the tranny is maybe 5% of the time/work. Additionally, the tranny is supported in only one place without the engine so some kind of fabrication would be required to support it properly without the engine. Reconnecting the two outside of the vehicle will be way better too. Following the FSM. The FSM is yo' friend.

 

[Mighty690]

Saturday's progress. Split off the tranny and transfer case. Degreased. Parts removal.

 

[baldilocks]

What's your plan now that it's all out?

 

[Mighty690]

Pesky Heater Hose (PHH). Before and after head removal. Yikes.

 

[Mighty690]

I was expecting #6 cylinder to show evidence of steam cleaning and HG failure, but no. In fact, #1 was the only one that appeared to be "cleaner" than than the rest. Here are shots of the HG at #1. This, I suspect, is the culprit.

 

[Mighty690]

Block scraped. Carefully and with a shop vac in the other hand.

 

[Mighty690]

Oh, here's a shot with the head lifted off but the gasket sitting in place as is. Notice #1 is "cleaner" than #6.

 

[Mighty690]

Here's a shot of the head with camshafts removed (following the FSM torque removal sequence). The shims are still in place in this image. Before removing the cams and shims I checked all valve tolerances. Each one was within spec, so they were removed with a magnet, wiped down, and individually wrapped and identified. The first forward exhaust bucket and shim was marked "1EF" and it's mate was identified as "1EA" for aft. Etc.

 

[aae42]

I was expecting #6 cylinder to show evidence of steam cleaning and HG failure, but no. In fact, #1 was the only one that appeared to be "cleaner" than than the rest. Here are shots of the HG at #1. This, I suspect, is the culprit.

View attachment 1247598

View attachment 1247599

mine went at #1 as well

 

[Mighty690]

mine went at #1 as well

Same area? By the oil supply port.

 

[aae42]

Same area? By the oil supply port.

don't remember, but it sure looks familiar....

 

[Mighty690]

Just got in a couple hours today. Working at West Coast Cruisers with Michael is a treat. Removing the crank bolt? No problem with the proper air tools.

 

[Mighty690]

Oil pump cover came off no problem. HDS Machine waiting for me to deliver stem seals but I picked up the VC so I can work on painting it. Professional guys at HDS, btw. Addressed me by name when I walked in today. Head is surfaced and looks new.

EDIT! Look at that chain. Do you spot something that's not right? No, I hadn't touched the chain orientation at this point. (Hint: look for the bright links.)

 

[bicycleagent003]

Pretty sweet. Nice work resurrecting a classic.

 

[Mighty690]

So I learned this last time, and it was reinforced on this engine: when you release the harness from the fuel injectors by pressing on their tabs a couple (at least) will crack due to brittle age. Beno sent me six replacement housings, and they swap out pretty easily. Cheap peace of mind when reinstalling the injectors.

 

[landtoy80]

I have a broken injector connector, used a zip tie to hold it in place. I wondered how hard it was to put a new end on. Was the wire brittle too?