Head gasket job thread- overhaul

[Nick R]

Well what was going to be a simple HG job is quickly turning into somewhat of a mild overhaul. The head is getting cleaned, brand new valve stem seals, valve seals. Going to look into a valve grind. New water pump, new PCV valve, new thermostat, new intake mani and exhaust mani gaskets. I'm also going to clean the everliving daylights out of the gunked up intake manifold. New A/C compressor, new accumulator, orifice tube... New fuel filter, lol It's going to be in much better shape when done.

So far, what I've done-

1. Removed VC
2. Removed Power Steering pump (hoses still connected)
3. Removed alternator and mounting bracket
4. Removed Rocker arms, pushrods
5. Removed upper intake manifold/Throttle body


Today on the list is to drain the coolant, oil fill tube, pull the lower intake manifold and get cleaning. After that comes the upper motor mount, then exhaust manifold.

Soon as I finish eating, I'll get some pics and post them.

 

[ryan2022]

Cool...im in.

 

[tig1]

What kind of engine? Cavalier?

 

[finalyzd]

Wow bet she's gonna run like brand new. Just head gasket no rebuild? I mean the head is off might as well do it. If its not too much money. Start from 0 miles

 

[Schmoe]

Might as well do it all since your "in" there.

 

[Nick R]

The UIM is currently partially bolted back on to protect from things falling in, I'll get a picture with it off later. For now....

 

[Steve S]

Sounds like you are doing a complete and proper job!!!

 

[daves87rs]

Good so far!

 

[rjundi]

It is great you have the knowledge/skill to perform this.

The majority of these cars at this age would have a date with the crusher.

 

[S2500Dog]

Cool bro, your ride will definitely be smooth after completing all of the work needed to be done lol !

 

[Nick R]

Update: Got Intake manifold completely off (pics later tonight), exhaust manifold off. Drained cooling system. (Though got quite a bit of anti-freeze in the oil pan when we pulled the heater core hose, the oil fill pipe was off. So it's going to be changed immediately before running, then changed again a few day later it looks like. Tomorrow gonna pull the head, accumulator compressor. Pic updates later on tonight. Me and dad are working on this together, some of these are a real pain in the buttocks. Like the lower bolts on the LIM. Grrrrr. PITA.

 

[bdcardinal]

Looks good!! Something I liked to do when i was doing engine overhauls is take the battery out and put it on a maintainer in case an overhaul turned ugly.

 

[mechanicx]

What I usually did on a 4cyl when taking the head off is take it off with the intake still attached. It makes acessing the bolts easier. And sometimes with the exhaust manifold attached. It just depends on if the manifold bolts or the exhaust pipe bolts were easier to deal with.

 

[punisher]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
What I usually did on a 4cyl when taking the head off is take it off with the intake still attached. It makes acessing the bolts easier. And sometimes with the exhaust manifold attached. It just depends on if the manifold bolts or the exhaust pipe bolts were easier to deal with.


Beat me to it. often easier to pull it all out and dissassemble it on the bench. I could do Tempo/Topaz 2.3HSC headgaskets in my sleep.

 

[JakeR22]

Originally Posted By: finalyzd
Wow bet she's gonna run like brand new. Just head gasket no rebuild? I mean the head is off might as well do it. If its not too much money. Start from 0 miles


Yeah, and go through the entire suspension, new exhaust, media blast the body to bare metal, skim coat it, base coat/clear, sand/buff. Then re upholster the interior. You know, since you're working on it. LOL.

A head gasket replace is a far cry from an engine rebuild.

 

[JakeR22]

If your head really needs work, you should look into swapping yours as a core for a rebuilt unit.

I did that an old '94 cavalier I had, got the rebuilt unit from Advance Auto, for a pretty good price.

 

[Colt45ws]

I like the shoe box for the push rods...

Are you going to have the head gone over or just bolt it back on with a new HG?
And yeah, I would be tempted to remove the exhaust manifold and then remove the whole head and intake manifold together.
You know what I like to use for bolts on a big project like this is one of those fishing boxes with the movable partitions. Start at one side and work through the box. Then when you put it back together, work from the opposite side. Then you wont miss anything..

 

[Nick R]

I have some more pics I'll upload in a bit, but we have the head off. Nothing visibly wrong with the headgasket, but that doesn't mean there isn't. Tomorrow gonna put in the new water pump, gonna get the A/C stuff put in. Fuel filter. And I'm gonna clean the daylights out of the intake manifold, and stuff. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with the head as of the moment. I want to get it shaved, but I don't know yet.

Since anti-freeze got in the current oil, I stopped at wally world and picked up a 5qt jug of Supertech 5W-20 dino, and a Supertech ST3387A filter. (E-core Gasp) which will be in/on for about a day or two, before I change it out for the Havoline.

 

[Nick R]

 

[Nick R]

I also poured a bit of seafoam into each cylinder and will let it soak all night to help break up some of the carbon on the piston. Pics of the head coming tomorrow too.