I am now about 8 hours into a head gasket replacement and just to the point where I can loosen head bolts. Removing the hood was a good start. It (on a pair of sawhorses) makes a good place to put all the parts that have to come off before you can even think about the head. I sure hope the turbo comes off with the head or I will have another 8 hours and everything foreward of the firewall removed.

i think thats an 8 hr job at max for anyone including myself and ive never done one

If you've never done one then you shouldn't even THINK you could do it in 8 hrs. Look under the hood once. It ain't no 283 Chevy.

That gave me a chuckle. A couple more points. You need to clean the holes for the head bolts before reassembly. If there is oil in the bottom, they will not torque properly. Get NEW headbolts. Use the Mopar head gasket from the vendors. When tensioning the (NEW)timing belt, see if Autozone or somewhere has a tensioner you can rent or borrow.
On reassembly, set the crank to TDC (0 degrees on the timing mark on the torque converter), the holes in the cam sprocket should split the gasket line, AND the distributor slot on the intermediate shaft should go right to left. Don't count on the marks on the sprocket. Don't scrape the gasket surface on the head. Let the machine shop do it when they check it. They usually say something like ")(*&$*$^&%#$(**&" when they see scratches on it.

And hopefully you have your wife's favorite quilt padding the hood!

i can pull apart a 2.2l in about 30 minutes. i will be doing mine in shortly, done quite a bit, i consider chevys a lot more work

Hey Tom, how about you go pi$$ on/brag about your inexperience in another thread ?

Fox, I have done 2.2/2.5 heads dozens of times and I still work slow. I like to do an analysis of each part I remove it. Is it damaged? Does it need to be bead blasted and painted? Does it just need a cleaning or? Thats how I work, I like all the parts to be clean/painted/refurbished when I am ready to reassemble the motor. I can do it faster, but 8 hours is not unreasonable. Those exhaust downpipe shoulder bolts can eat up an hour all by themselves

Are you going to have the head rebuilt by a shop or is this just a lift/clean/replace job? If you have the time and $$ it sure may save you from doing another gasket all too soon. If it is perfromance you want, while the head is off is the best time to get it.

Alan


Alan

hey alan i didnt remember anybody asking for your opinion, i wasnt bragging about anything

C'mon Guys cool it. We all do things differently. I'm sure at my age I couldn't keep up with any of you.
By the way. Hemi finished the major work on that Pretty; but Neglected 16v I bought last month. It should be picked up to come east Sunday. Lou

I can pull apart a 2.2l in about 30 minutes

Nah, that's not bragging Tom, and your post added *such* value to Fox's thread Such constuctive, helpful advice.

And rest assured Mr Kordoski, I'll offer my opinion without being asked... Problem there? We can continue it when we meet at some point.


Alan

Where's the fire, and who's on the stop-watch? Even the professionals get their learning curve boosted by training courses, etc. After you do the first one, there's something wrong if the rest take as long (especially if you stop, clean up, and take pictures along the way).

Speed
Quality
Price

You can only pick any two:
If you want a quick job with fine quality, it's going to cost.
If you want a quick job done cheap, quality will suffer.
But, if you want a quality job done at a good price, it's going to take a while. That's 90% of every restoration. Even the assembly plant puts good, clean parts together, and that's how I work, too.

Take your time, Fox49. Do a good job, but above all, ENJOY YOURSELF. If you get too tired or stressed, you will start making mistakes; STOP. Pick it up again the next day and you will see, things will go much better.

learn to spell as i dont have a "I" in my last name Alan just for your information.

Thanks to everyone for all the valuable input. I am absolutely convinced that twincamguy and the notimeforturbo-dodges guy are 2 of the best mechanics in the states. They have apparently got that eyeball-on-the index finger option that I lack. I can't even see a lot of things that need to come off. Next step-engineectomy.

Hey Fox, You missed your calling you should have been; or maybe you are; a politician.....

Wait, he just complimented both of us, who am I gonna argue with now:/ Let us know how it goes Fox, like a I said, great time for a little bigger turbo or some porting on the cylinder head. New valve seals at the least...


Alan

TwinCam knows his stuff pretty good; Tom on the other hand....