Head Removal In Car Write Up

tw2

New member
I can't think of anything not obvious to remove. As long as the coolant bypass lines etc are taken care of.... the tranny has heaps of hidden bolts but I think the head is relatively straightforward.

Sorry I only use msn and not very often at all.
 

bluemonkey

New member
I got HG and bolts on order, should be in Monday. I found a set with 3, 12 pt. weird sockets. Its 8, 10, and 12mm so I figure one will have to work.

I've heard to use grease on the head bolts but the BGB calls for engine oil, is one better than the other? On the HG, I've heard to use a copper spray, is there any cons to that idea? Any other small details that are often overlooked that should be done with assembling/disassembling the top of the motor? I plan on leaving as much of the head internals intact.
 

bluemonkey

New member
I've started removing things but I noticed that one of the hoses connecting to the TB at the bottom had coolant inside. Is that normal? I'm looking at the BGB and I can't really see anything clear about it.

I circled where I'm taking about.
 

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tw2

New member
Yes, it circulates coolant through the TB so it doesn't freeze and maintains a constant temp. Some people remove it. I hope you had drained and removed your radiator first anyway?
 

bluemonkey

New member
I drained it and then I connected everything before and ran it to test something but I haven't drained it again. Thanks for posting, I did see it was a water-bypass valve in the BGB. I'll be back at it tomorrow. I got the strut brace, alt., alt. bracket, TB, a few vacuums on the passenger side (I think I got all of them off on that side) and a few more to go on the right side. I also removed the egr.

Do I need to remove the distributor? Do I need to remove the cam gears to remove the timing belt or can I just adjust the idler pulley to have enough slack to pull it from around the cam gears?
 

tw2

New member
Dont need to remove cams or distributor. Might pay to remove distrubutor anyway though to prevent damaging it and you should redo your ignition timing afterwards anyway so it doesn't really matter.
 

bluemonkey

New member
Are the steps in the BGB pretty good for doing the timing? I've never really messed around with the timing of a motor, only checked it.
 

tw2

New member
I think so. I can't remember them. Align crank to 0. Align cams looking at notches on the bearing caps under the cam cover. Try to have as much slack on the portion of timing belt toward the front of the car since that is the part which is pulled taught when you pull the pin on the tensioner. Use a 1mm allen key for the tensioner. You can compress it in a hand held 6" clamp.
 

bluemonkey

New member
Getting the top cover off was a pain, because of that one screw at the bottom closer to the firewall. I have to remove the water oulet or just pull off the hoes/connectors?
 

bluemonkey

New member
I took off a bunch of items, still got the dist. and timing belt on there. Figure I'll wait so i can have a friend help. Can I just mark the dist and then pop it back in or just leave it on the head? Timing parts scare me lol.

2 weirds things i noticed
white residue on the valves, and
there actually was a bit of coolant in the spark plug hole once i pulled the valve cover.
 

tw2

New member
If you mean the water neck by the distributor then you should just be able to pull the hoses and electrical connectors off.
 

bluemonkey

New member
I took that off already, I was talking about teh actual distributor. What issues may arise if I leave it there?

How the heck did you manage to cut off the braces on the back of the intake manifold? I tried unbolting them but that didn't work out very well.
 

tw2

New member
You can leave it there. The only thing I can think of is if it somehow gets damaged. Hahah well.... I got a hacksaw blade, wrapped a little but of electrical tape around one end to save my hands and cut it with that. Took about 20-30 minutes to do one stay. Those bolts are really hard to get a good spanner on and you should soak them with PB blaster or similar. I managed to get all sorts of combinations of sockets and wrenches behind the engine to get the side stay off. But the one closer to the middle there really is not enough room.
 

bluemonkey

New member
Yeah I tried reaching through an opening by the passenger wheel for the bottom one but no luck. I'll give it another try tomorrow and then the hacksaw will come out. I had like 3 sockets, 2 ratches, 2 wrenches, but I couldn't get one on there that allowed any movement without bumping into something. I need to figure out exactly how I'm gonna give the timing belt tension so that I don't have to remove the bottom pulley to set the timing belt again.
 

tw2

New member
You don't need to get the bottom pulley off to set timing. Getting past the two stays was by far the hardest part of the rebuild for me. I found I had ok access through the wheel well for the closest one.
 

bluemonkey

New member
no I was referring to keeping tension on the belt so that the bottom pulley didn't jump any teeth. The BGB says you have to remove the pulley to put the belt back on if you do take it off all the way. Is there a way to do it without removing that pulley?

I know if I keep tension on it, I'll be able to just put it back over the cam gears and have it marked so I get it in the right position. But if it jumps teeth, your supposed to take off the pulley to get the bottom cover off.
 

tw2

New member
You could try clamping it together with a strong paper bulldog clip. Otherwise just count the notches between the cam gears and make sure the non-tensioner side is taught. I have never bothered to stop the crank jumping teeth and have never had to redo my timing after pulling the pin. You might have to ask someone else how they did it; I have never done it that way.
 

tw2

New member
One of the times I did it, it just happened to not jump any teeth. The second time it did and I just pulled it forward so it wasn't kinked or in the way at all.

Heres a good tip, to get the tensioner back in, tie some string to the pulley it pushes on. Tie this tightly to something in front of it, it makes it very easy to get back in.

Can't see pics sorry but good work all the same.
 
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