Got my head off! Wow...what a mess! (pics inside)
07-22-2003, 05:14 PM
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Got my head off! Wow...what a mess! (pics inside)
I took an hour break from work to finish what I started...I removed the last remaining water inlet to the head and yanked the head off with the headers attached.
Well...I've seen pictures of blown head gaskets before...mine is nothing to scoff at. There was a good 4" wide x 1-3" tall section just completely decimated. The fire ring was completely bent out of shape and was in the middle of the combustion chamber. The cylinder that was affected by this section of head gasket had a nice little puddle of coolant on top of it. The headers were cake to remove with the head out and it took all of 5 minutes to pull them off. 7 of the 8 exhaust manifold studs came out (the nuts were fused to them) while 1 stayed in the head...strange. What worried me a little bit was that the exhaust pipe coming out of the affected cylinder (#1 I think) was not held on very well by the header studs...in fact, it was loose. Two of the exhaust pipes (#2 and # 4 I think) had large radial cracks that I will have to get welded while I have it apart.
The good news is that the bores are more or less flawless, with no signs of striation, ridges, wear spots, etc. I did the fingernail test more than once and felt nothing but straight smoothness.
So...here are some pictures:
What greeted me when I pulled the head off:
These next two are just close ups of the decimated portion of the gasket:
Here are the spark plugs...they all looked good with just a little bit of carbon deposit on all of them:
Here's one pipe that has a nice radial crack in it (needs to be welded):
Well...I've seen pictures of blown head gaskets before...mine is nothing to scoff at. There was a good 4" wide x 1-3" tall section just completely decimated. The fire ring was completely bent out of shape and was in the middle of the combustion chamber. The cylinder that was affected by this section of head gasket had a nice little puddle of coolant on top of it. The headers were cake to remove with the head out and it took all of 5 minutes to pull them off. 7 of the 8 exhaust manifold studs came out (the nuts were fused to them) while 1 stayed in the head...strange. What worried me a little bit was that the exhaust pipe coming out of the affected cylinder (#1 I think) was not held on very well by the header studs...in fact, it was loose. Two of the exhaust pipes (#2 and # 4 I think) had large radial cracks that I will have to get welded while I have it apart.
The good news is that the bores are more or less flawless, with no signs of striation, ridges, wear spots, etc. I did the fingernail test more than once and felt nothing but straight smoothness.
So...here are some pictures:
What greeted me when I pulled the head off:
These next two are just close ups of the decimated portion of the gasket:
Here are the spark plugs...they all looked good with just a little bit of carbon deposit on all of them:
Here's one pipe that has a nice radial crack in it (needs to be welded):
07-22-2003, 05:15 PM
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These next two are pictures of the same radial crack in one of the exhaust pipes:
Here's the head after I pulled it from the car:
This is the funky brown stuff that was built up on the exhaust(?) valves on all of the cylinders:
He're a picture of the motor with no head from a little more of a distance:
This is a close up of the bores:
Here's the head after I pulled it from the car:
This is the funky brown stuff that was built up on the exhaust(?) valves on all of the cylinders:
He're a picture of the motor with no head from a little more of a distance:
This is a close up of the bores:
07-22-2003, 05:15 PM
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The block with the head gasket off:
This is another picture of the head gasket's blown portion while its off the car:
And finally my victory pose:
Overall, it wasn't that bad of a job to pull the head...maybe 6 hours total if I did it straight through, and this was my first time. I still need to pull the timing & bs belts off (I just slipped the t-belt off of the cam gear to expediate the removal process) and drain the coolant and oil, but I won't have my head back from the machine shop until early/mid next week, so I'll be able to do this stuff between then and now. Oh...I also need to replace my tie rods (not the ends...the inners) so I should be busy between then and now. I was going to put on my 30mm torsion bars this weekend but paragon (and weltmeister) are out of the welt bushings and I don't feel like spending $150 for delrin, so that will have to wait. Thats all I got for now...later.
This is another picture of the head gasket's blown portion while its off the car:
And finally my victory pose:
Overall, it wasn't that bad of a job to pull the head...maybe 6 hours total if I did it straight through, and this was my first time. I still need to pull the timing & bs belts off (I just slipped the t-belt off of the cam gear to expediate the removal process) and drain the coolant and oil, but I won't have my head back from the machine shop until early/mid next week, so I'll be able to do this stuff between then and now. Oh...I also need to replace my tie rods (not the ends...the inners) so I should be busy between then and now. I was going to put on my 30mm torsion bars this weekend but paragon (and weltmeister) are out of the welt bushings and I don't feel like spending $150 for delrin, so that will have to wait. Thats all I got for now...later.
07-22-2003, 06:53 PM
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Ribs, What Happened? I remember all your last posts when you were doing the rebuild in a rented storage place. (My family was in your area on a day trip when I mentioned to my wife about the guy from the web board who lives here doing a rebuild, I got the eye roll!) Too much boost? I may have missed an earlier explanation. Good luck, it's not an insurmountable problem.
Mike, from the other side of Maryland
Mike, from the other side of Maryland
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07-22-2003, 07:04 PM
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Mike,
I R&R'd the rod bearings, oil pan gasket, ignition system, fuel system, belts, hoses, yadda yadda, entire front suspension, rear shocks, death beams, MSD set up, boost and air/fuel gauges, resoldered my ECU, and a bunch of other crap I don't recall right now about a year and a half ago. After a month or so of having my car run like butter, I exploded a relatively new (like 2 years) waterpump to radiator hose for no explicable reason, and had to get a $200 tow from Washington College to Salisbury to replace a $50 hose.
A week later, I was driving calmly in DC (in Georgetown I believe) when my car started making this strange put put noise whenever it wasn't on boost. I noticed over the next half hour or so that the noise became more prevalent, and the temperature started rising. I was a block from where I was staying, and the temp almost got into the red, so I turned my car off and walked to the place I was staying. The next day, I found the coolant was completely dry, and I had to add about 2 gallons of coolant to go 30 miles. I parked my car in my parents' driveway in Crofton and left it there for 9 months or so, and started pulling it apart this weekend.
I figured I had blown a HG, but I just spent a load of cash on the previous rebuild and didn't have much of any income, so I had to wait until this summer when I had an actual job to start attacking the car...that's the story.
I had been consuming coolant mysteriously since I bought the car, and it got worse and worse over time, so I think the HG wasn't in pristine condition before. I was running a bit more boost than before (16.5 or so compared to 15 psi) but I don't think that is what did it...I think the gasket was just deteriorated and ate it that day (I wasn't driving crazy or anything...barely on boost for the whole day that it blew).
I R&R'd the rod bearings, oil pan gasket, ignition system, fuel system, belts, hoses, yadda yadda, entire front suspension, rear shocks, death beams, MSD set up, boost and air/fuel gauges, resoldered my ECU, and a bunch of other crap I don't recall right now about a year and a half ago. After a month or so of having my car run like butter, I exploded a relatively new (like 2 years) waterpump to radiator hose for no explicable reason, and had to get a $200 tow from Washington College to Salisbury to replace a $50 hose.
A week later, I was driving calmly in DC (in Georgetown I believe) when my car started making this strange put put noise whenever it wasn't on boost. I noticed over the next half hour or so that the noise became more prevalent, and the temperature started rising. I was a block from where I was staying, and the temp almost got into the red, so I turned my car off and walked to the place I was staying. The next day, I found the coolant was completely dry, and I had to add about 2 gallons of coolant to go 30 miles. I parked my car in my parents' driveway in Crofton and left it there for 9 months or so, and started pulling it apart this weekend.
I figured I had blown a HG, but I just spent a load of cash on the previous rebuild and didn't have much of any income, so I had to wait until this summer when I had an actual job to start attacking the car...that's the story.
I had been consuming coolant mysteriously since I bought the car, and it got worse and worse over time, so I think the HG wasn't in pristine condition before. I was running a bit more boost than before (16.5 or so compared to 15 psi) but I don't think that is what did it...I think the gasket was just deteriorated and ate it that day (I wasn't driving crazy or anything...barely on boost for the whole day that it blew).
07-22-2003, 08:41 PM
#10
Three Wheelin'
Nice work, man. I just got done putting a head back on an old Wrangler 4.2L six. The biggest pain is getting all the accessories off and then back on again...Grab yourself some new gaskets, scrape the surfaces with a razor, and button it back up.
Now's a good time to grab some carb cleaner, a stiff tooth or wire brush, some paper towels and really clean the hell out of the head and valve cover. Might as well grab yourself some Duplicolor engine enamel from Autozone...Grab the 500 degree stuff for the head/cover/intake and the 1200 stuff for the exhaust...
If I were doing it, I'd paint the intake silver, exhaust black, and the head and cover red...Then scrape the red off the Porsche lines/text on top...Looks good and it's real easy.
Now's a good time to grab some carb cleaner, a stiff tooth or wire brush, some paper towels and really clean the hell out of the head and valve cover. Might as well grab yourself some Duplicolor engine enamel from Autozone...Grab the 500 degree stuff for the head/cover/intake and the 1200 stuff for the exhaust...
If I were doing it, I'd paint the intake silver, exhaust black, and the head and cover red...Then scrape the red off the Porsche lines/text on top...Looks good and it's real easy.
Last edited by Tremelune; 07-22-2003 at 08:54 PM.
07-23-2003, 08:08 AM
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Tremulene,
I already have my intake manifold and intercooler pipes powdercoated metal-black. I don't have an oven I can use to powdercoat anymore, but I'll probably paint at least the cam cover. I'm going to use about 15 cans of brake cleaner to get out all of the oil that leaked out of my cam cover gasket since the last time I degreased my motor.
Legoland,
I'll pass for now...maybe later.
I already have my intake manifold and intercooler pipes powdercoated metal-black. I don't have an oven I can use to powdercoat anymore, but I'll probably paint at least the cam cover. I'm going to use about 15 cans of brake cleaner to get out all of the oil that leaked out of my cam cover gasket since the last time I degreased my motor.
Legoland,
I'll pass for now...maybe later.
07-23-2003, 08:42 AM
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schlag,
Taking it apart was easy...I'm sure putting it back together will be a little more difficult. If all goes according to schedule, I should be putting it back together not this weekend but next weekend. If you want to come down and watch me do it/lend a hand, please do!
Taking it apart was easy...I'm sure putting it back together will be a little more difficult. If all goes according to schedule, I should be putting it back together not this weekend but next weekend. If you want to come down and watch me do it/lend a hand, please do!
