ayoung101

LESSONS LEARNED from head gasket R&R. i hope some of these will help someone in the future. sorry, i didn't stop to take pictures along the way:

1. it absolutely is possible, and not that hard, to remove your head with the intake attached. at least the lower intake. the upper intake is quite easy to remove, with the exception of the far rear bolt, and that bolt isn't really that hard either. after that is out of the way (don't forget to replace the gasket when re-installing), i literally just propped the head up (with lower intake still attached) leaning towards the passenger side of the vehicle by propping it up with a long 1/2" socket extension. quick, easy, painless. i'm sure you could use a bungee cord to something too. several people told me to just remove the lower intake otherwise i'd have to mess with the wire harness. they would have been right if i wanted to pick up my head and put it on the ground, but what is the point? with it propped up i had easy access to remove any trace of the old gasket off both the head and the block, and it was easy to drop it back on.
2. getting the camshaft sprocket bolt out. i had an almost impossible time doing this. . . .until i put the truck in 5th gear, as suggested by someone. it came right loose and didn't move everything too far from TDC, could easily get it back in TDC after the bolt was loose.
3. getting the cam sprocket back ON after the head is back in position. the service manual says to wiggle the sprocket back and forth until the chain is long enough to put back on. i'd like to say a big fat capital letter BS to that one. what they don't tell you is the reason the chain is "shorter" than when it came off. waaaaay down in the timing chain cover (assuming you didn't remove it just like i didn't remove it) is a chain tensioner. it's low and on the passenger side. it is spring loaded. somehow you have to compress it (towards the left side) so the chain will get "long enough" to get the sprocket on the camshaft. i used a 2 ft long 3/8" metal rod and a shop light. looking straight down, put the pole against the front cover with the lower end to the left and the upper end to the right. DO NOT leverage against the plastic chain guide cuz you could break it. fiddle around with the lower end until you get it on the tensioner. it does NOT take much force to compress it, so if you're pushing hard enough on the head to leave a divot, you're not on the tensioner. i didn't really know what i was looking at as i looked down into my front cover until i found the tensioner. when you hit it, then all of a sudden it's perfectly clear what you're looking at and you're in business. hang up the light (without moving the pole) and use that hand to lift the sprocket over the end of the camshaft. it took a long time for me to figure this out so i hope this will help someone in the future. i really wish i got a picture of this.
4. sharpies are useful, but paint markers are MUCH better. i wish i had used a white paint marker instead of a black sharpie.
5. there are a lot of vacuum lines. label all of them, or at least label the cluster (if they have some way of holding themselves in order).
6. don't even think about starting this job without ziplock baggies to put bolts in, and label the baggies.
7. if you do it the way i did it, you will have to remove 2 seperate fuel lines banjo bolts. DO THIS SLOWLY AND DO NOT LOSE THE COPPER CRUSH WASHERS!!! i lost both sets, and only found one. now i'm having a very hard time buying the appropriate crush washer to fit the other and that is all that is keeping me stranded now.
8. if you don't feel like dissipating the fuel pressure properly, it's not that big of deal. gas sprayed a little bit, but didn't soak the entire garage or anything. just wear eye protection ahead of time, cuz gasoline in the eye doesn't feel good.
9. mark the distributor properly (underneath the cap) before removing it. it spins as you take it out, so make another mark where it stops spinning so you know where to put the rotor to start as you re-install it.
10. put the power steering compressor back on BEFORE the distributor. you can't get to the bolts with the distributor in the way. it'll save you from having to re-R&R the distributor, and have to mess with alignment again.

that's all i can think of right now, hope it helps someone in the future.

snobdds

start to finish how long did it take you?

DupermanDave

When I was working on the fiance's subaru, I forgot the ziplock baggies to label bolts. Then I had a brilliant idea. Why not put the bolts back in the holes they came from once the two pieces of hardware were separated?

Haven't had a problem since then. Unless I'm cleaning the bolts or doing something that requires a smooth surface, putting the bolts back makes it much easier and cleaner.

x2 on putting pwoer steering on BEFORE the distributor. I remember when i did the head that was one of the issues I ran into. Had gotten most of the things together only to take them apart and put them together in a different order.

ayoung101

well first, obviously it depends on your skill/experience level. i'm far from a novice garage mechanic, but i'm by no means an expert. on a scale of 1-10 (1 being someone who can't change their oil and 10 being an all around expert), i'd say i'm a 7. anyways, i drove it in the garage last tuesday or wednesday and did a little each day or every other day. as soon as i get my crush washer, it will be ready to drive out of the garage. i'd say total working hours was about 15-20. if i had to do it again right now, i could probably easily do it in 1/2 the time, which is why i wanted to post the things i learned to help others.