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About to take off the head. I’ve got a Bentley but not much engine related experience.
Anything missing from the Bentley? Tips that make the job better?
Things to do while it’s off? Already planning to send out the injectors for cleaning. tap the thermostat housing for an additional sensor, and TPS oil drain hole.
Common sense and Bentley is really all that is needed. But do make sure that both dowels are in place when installing the head. And use new copper plated nuts for the exhaust.
This is your chance to block off the coolant port at the back of the head, and also the port on the tstat housing that connects to it.
The best way to get the jesus tube in is to compress the spring with a couple flexties. There is a pic of this in my New #6 build thread.
This is a good time to put an OEM oil pressure switch into the block’s coolant port in order to get an easy coolant pressure switch. Use the port that has a barb in it near the starter. The barb is for a hose that goes to the throttle body and can hard to remove because of rust and scale that has worked it’s way into the threads.
Remove the tstat housing’s top stud and replace it with an 8mm bolt. This allows you to rotate the tstat out of the way so you can R/R the intake manifold more easily.
Be very conscious of every bolt that goes into aluminum. Clean the bolts and holes to get lubricants off of bolt and hole, put on some locktite and then tighten them in 15% under torque spec. The reason that cleaning the lube off of bolts and holes is important for aluminum is that 16ftlbs with lube puts a lot more stress on the threads than 16ftlbs dry. If you use no locktite, then maybe 10% under torque spec.
Be goddamned careful when you put the head on that you put it on exactly square. Put bottom and top end at TDC and then take a long hard look at what valves are sticking out. Loosen those eccentrics to make the valves less proud. When the engine is installed, you really need a helper to safely put the head on. Bending over the engine bay is very very easy to end up in a struggle trying to precisely position the 50lb head.
If you and your helper ate your wheaties, put your manifolds on prior to installing the head. This is heavier, but it gives you good handholds and it’s a really easy way to get your manifolds on. Be advised tho that in some cars the exhaust downtubes stick up kinda high so if the head goes on with the manifolds, you may have to drop the front of your exhaust by an inch.
[quote=“Ranger” post=67296]
Remove the tstat housing’s top stud and replace it with an 8mm bolt. [/quote]
Anybody know the correct length for this replacement bolt?
Anybody have a picture of this? I can’t find the original post on this topic (may have been on a different board)
Looking at the TPS tonight (off the car) it looks like the bottom half of the cover can be removed? Just wanted to check on that before I started prying on it.
[quote=“jlucas” post=67446][quote=“Ranger” post=67296]
Remove the tstat housing’s top stud and replace it with an 8mm bolt. [/quote]
Anybody know the correct length for this replacement bolt?[/quote]
Measure your tstat and add a cm.
Old head is ready to come off. What do you guys recommend to clean the block surface before putting on the new head gasket. Keep in mind the block is in the car with oil pan on.
Of course! Just need a couple misc parts to come in.
Going back together this week to get some heat cycles/coolant bleeds on it before MidO which Sean is driving.
Now about those surface prep questions…
So did you build a different head? Or are you getting that one refreshed? Short fuse for getting a refresh that quick.
This is what I do. Brake parts cleaner and a razor blade. Sometimes scotch brite pad if needed. Stuff rags in the cylinders and watch the oil and coolant ports. Blow out with air when done. First oil in after new head is cheap and only in for a short time. I also use spray copper coat on each side of the head gasket. I quite using paper gaskets for the most part on the rest of the engine and use anaerobic sealer (permatex 518 I think).
Like I said, this is what I do.
I surface prep with a razor, just be careful not to gouge the AL. I’m not saying it’s the best approach, but the other ideas I’ve read about didn’t work all that well for me.
I don’t use a green pad because bits of greenpad seemed to get into the cylinders.
Sometimes you find the head’s locating pins missing. These are ~1cm pins between head and block. Be sure you have yours.
As long as your cam still has a sheen of good oil on it, I’m ok with the engine being filled with cheap oil for it’s break in. That means that the cam should still have it’s protective layer of ZDDP on it. A new cam or a very clean cam tho, is very sensitive to antiwear additives in the oil. I’ve read that the first 30secs of life of a cam are critical. So under some conditions, instead of using a gallon of new crappy quality 10W30, I use the same high quality race oil I drained out of the engine a week prior.
There’s a lot of ways to skin this cat. I’ve put in a gallon of crappy oil but then used a single quart of high quality stuff, poured it all over the cam, and then started the car. Or take a gallon of crappy oil and put in some break in additive (ZDDP). Not too much additive tho because too much ZDDP will leach the carbon out of the steel.
It’s a second head already built up and it’s new cam so I’ll be using some BradPenn Assembly Lube (a door prize from a PCA event). Only unknown ETA item is the fuel injectors I sent out for cleaning but should be by the end of the week.
Do an oil analysis after a couple weekends with the injectors. The injector cleaner guys can test them in various ways but if they leak a little when they get hot the cleaner guy won’t spot the problem. Only way to discover this oil analysis indicating that gas is getting into your oil for no obvious good reason. That plays hell with oil visc.
Anybody have a picture of this? I can’t find the original post on this topic (may have been on a different board)
Looking at the TPS tonight (off the car) it looks like the bottom half of the cover can be removed? Just wanted to check on that before I started prying on it.[/quote]
Still looking for more info on this. Intake goes back on tomorrow. Bueller?