Head Gasket Replacement

petridish38 · Post by **petridish38** » Sat Apr 05, 2003 6:36 am

Well, i've decided to go ahead and do my head gaskets myself!!! So far i've spent about 5 hours of labor over two days and im almost ready to actually pull the heads!!!
It's getting the heads all clean and smooth that i'm worried about. I've taken my time so far and will continue to take my time... i haven't even ordered the new parts yet. I guess I should get on that, but i'm in no real hurry. although it would be nice to get it running again soon.

The parts i will be replacing are:
Head gaskets
Head Bolts
Cam Seals
Intake Manifold Gaskets
Exhaust Gaskets
Valve Cover Gaskets

Here is a pic so far:

teesaa · Post by **teesaa** » Sat Apr 05, 2003 7:10 am

No pic, try again!

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Sun Apr 06, 2003 7:16 am

Pic works now...

You're coming along there! Just remember to get the proper head-bolt-tightening procedure, should be in Haynes manual...

Just curious, do you know which side is leaking?

petridish38 · Post by **petridish38** » Sun Apr 06, 2003 6:41 pm

When I turned the crankshaft by hand, I could hear a "hissing" sound coming from the driver's side. And I'm fairly sure that I heard one on the passenger side too...

I have taken all the head bolts out and I can't seem to break the gasket seal. I even went out and bought a plastic hammer for $25. That didn't work...it may be too light of a hammer.... so today I will go out and buy a bigger/better soft-faced hammer!!!

petridish38 · Post by **petridish38** » Sun Apr 06, 2003 11:35 pm

THE HEADS ARE OFF!!! now comes the fun part of cleaning them!!! i will take my time since i still have a couple days until the parts come in! I will also be doing my engine mounts since one has completely separated, and the other is cracked!

rallysam · Post by **rallysam** » Mon Apr 07, 2003 2:56 pm

So you did the whole procedure with the engine in the car? How much of a headache was that?

petridish38 · Post by **petridish38** » Mon Apr 07, 2003 8:15 pm

Doing it with the engine in the car isn't that bad. There were a few bolts that were difficult to reach, but not many. I recommend taking the whole radiator out, since its only 2 bolts and u have to drain the coolant anyway. you should also remove the air box, battery, and washer fluid tank. The compressor gets in the way a little bit, but you can work around it.

Also, if anyone knows the best way to get the old gasket off, it would be very helpful!!!

Here are some more pics

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Head Gasket Replacement

Head Gasket Replacement