Today I noticed coolant dripping from my engine block. I got my head and flashlight in there as far as I could and it seems the steady drip is coming from between the head and the block. I checked the oil and there is no water in it.
I'm guessing its the head gasket witch scares me cuz I'm a hella nooby mechanic. I have zero experience tearing down motors.

I guess my question is do you guys think this is something I could do myself? I have a week and a half off work and some money just no experience. Not even a buddy that's a mechanic I could call if the goin gets rough : /

I want to learn everything I can about turning wrenches on my baby but I don't want to mess anything up
Any Advice???

 

22re?? get the service manual and go at it, just label things as u take them off. the only way to learn how to do things is get out there and do it, one of the best things u have is this site with a lot of people who know what they are doing...

 

22re can be done in a day.

 

yep, 22Re Sweet! Im going for it..!

Is there anything else that should be done to it while Im that far in?

 

water pump, timing chain, crank and cam seal, timing chain guides,

 

if you're going to do a head gasket and you want it done right you need to take the head to a reputable machine shop to have it pressure checked, decked if needed, valve job if needed. Other wise you run a real good chance of doing it twice. Unless you have a machine shop at hand the head work required to do the job right gives you a down time of 1.5 or two days. Plan for three days if this is your first time taking the motor apart just to label and unforseable problems that we all run into. And justin is right if you're going to do the job go ahead and do the timing chain while you're at it. With the timing chain job you're going to take some time to do it.

 

Make sure you have a friend or two to take the head off and put it back on. Its not incredibly heavy, but heavy enough that trying to get it back onto the block from about a foot away, lining it up with the dowel pins and not destroying the head gasket while doing so is pretty difficult. Ask me how I know Everything else mentioned is right on. Good luck!

 

Any updates???

 

well luckly work has been plentifull. unfortunatly that leaves me with no time to play with my TOY. :-/
I am home for a week and tearing into her today. I was hella nervous as I started disconnecting things but I took lots of pictures and tryed my best to lable every thing as I pulled it apart.





I saw a problem before even getting the head off





and the moment of truth.!





anyone know good machine shops in phoenix AZ area?
will the machine shops do my valves for me if I just leave the cam and valve assembely installed to the head when I take it in?
should I run an upgrade cam?
Im going with an aftermarket upgrade exahust header, any suggestions?
I want to put a lil coin into it as I put her back together....

Thanks for your encouragement helping me do this myself

 

A route that many go is installing over sized valves, cam, when pairing it with intake and exhaust. Yes a machine shop can and will install these (valves) but the rocker arm assembly is held on via the head bolts so it will be off when you take it to the machine shop. With that being said you should (or at least in my case) take the cam off as well and take the head in like that as there is no sense in leaving it on for some one to forget about. Ted at engnbldr.com sells some nice stuff for these motors as well as lcengineering. Look around and do some research as to how and what gains you might see with modifications to your motor and if they are worth it. Things to consider in relation to you specific motor would be how many miles does the engine have, If you start upgrading one thing take into consideration what it will affect in the process of doing so like an old or tired bottom end with worn rings and the risk of blow by and low compression. Just a quick tip for you if you don't know already take the right steps to removing the head. If not done properly you run the risk of warping it upon removal.