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Replacing a Head Gasket.....

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jcawley3

Active Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2007
Messages
1,489
I blew a headgasket in Reynolds sooo......

I'm still weighing my options on trying this myself or taking the car to the mechanic.

Are there detailed instructions for this anywhere? searched this site and gnttype and came up with none.

I've never done anything this in depth so I'm trying to figure out if I will be able to handle it myself.
 
I've done mine twice. I don't think that it's too hard. There is a lot of info on this site and guys that jump in to give some advice. I pulled my motor when I did mine so that made the head part easier. Someone might jump in about what it's like to just pull heads with motor in car. I just tried to re-torque the bolts and couldn't get the back bolt on the passenger side. Just get a good torque wrench and follow the instructions on the gnttype.org website.
 
I started taking things off the car lastnight to pull the motor. I have the wrench... I could not find direction on gnttype..??.. maybe I'm looking in the wrong place...
 
If you plan to pull the engine without the trans, I like to use a 2x4 under the front of the trans running from frame rail to frame rail. I attach it with some hand chain thru the factory holes in the frame with some bolts with washers.
There are other ways, but this works well and is out of the way.
 
Which side? I did my dr side in the car. Pass side is a little more difficult but doable. Do you just want to pull the engine?
 
It takes from start to finish 10-12 hours to do headgaskets IN car.
Pulling the motor takes about 4-5 hours & put it back is 5-6 hours for the average guy with some basic knowledge & tools.
My Back does NOT allow me to do it In Car & on the stand you can do a Much Nicer Job & do some cleaning etc. So I Always pull it out & put it on the engine stand to really check it out properly. Pull a few caps to make sure the bearings are good etc. Antifreeze eats bearings so you need to check them. So you spend an extra week checking it based on a few hours a day after work & a couple weekends total start to finish BUT you know its done correctly! Actually Fun on the stand & a PITA IN the Car!! Just my 2 cents as they say. Good Luck & take your time. Its not that bad.

PS: Buy Beer & Pizza & some friends will always pass by to help but take LOTS of Pics of stuff & Label Everything in baggies! Very Important when its your first time! This is a must with the pics & labels!
 
TexasT said:
Which side? I did my dr side in the car. Pass side is a little more difficult but doable. Do you just want to pull the engine?
Click to expand...

I did the pass side in the car and it was pretty easy. You have to remove a lot more stuff on the drivers side, I would think it would be a bigger pain.
 
Well, there you have it. I think the dr side was easy, forzfed thinks the pass side was easy.
Unless you can't do it in car due to physical limitations, it's easy.

I do see why one might want to pull it to do a cleaner job and check out the bearings. I guess it depends on the individual and their desires.
 
PITA in-car if you are over 40 like me! My back just can't take that anymore. Like mentioned above you can do some clean-up work with the motor out and you can torque the bolts much easier. Get alot of zip-lock bags and a sharpie. It has been said already but TAKE PICTURES and you will not have any issues.
Good luck

Bryan
 
By the time you get the heads off you realize all thats left to have pulled the engine out is 2 engine mount bolts,6 bell housing bolts and 3 torque converter bolts.I did mine in the car and it sucked.Hard to get to the rear head bolts on the pass side because the heater box is in the way.If i have to do them again i will be pulling the engine out.You also should be dropping the oil pan and checking for gasket material in it.
 
challengermike said:
Hard to get to the rear head bolts on the pass side because the heater box is in the way.If i have to do them again i will be pulling the engine out.You also should be dropping the oil pan and checking for gasket material in it.
Click to expand...

Been a while since I did mine and I did do the heads on both sides of my motor in the car but I thought I used a short or no extension and a flex on one bolt but still found it to be easier then the drivers side.

I definitely agree with dropping the pan, because you probably will have gasket material in there. I wouldn't even mess around with cleaning the pickup, for the price I would just put a new one in.
 
just start taking things apart until you can fix what needs to be fixed, then put it back together and try not to leave too many extra parts laying on the bench.
this is how i've always worked on stuff, and it's almost always worked out well.
 
TexasT said:
Which side? I did my dr side in the car. Pass side is a little more difficult but doable. Do you just want to pull the engine?
Click to expand...

its the pass side.... going to do them both... engine is just about out of the car... I will have it out tomorrow.
 
Just a Six?? said:
It takes from start to finish 10-12 hours to do headgaskets IN car.
Pulling the motor takes about 4-5 hours & put it back is 5-6 hours for the average guy with some basic knowledge & tools.
My Back does NOT allow me to do it In Car & on the stand you can do a Much Nicer Job & do some cleaning etc. So I Always pull it out & put it on the engine stand to really check it out properly. Pull a few caps to make sure the bearings are good etc. Antifreeze eats bearings so you need to check them. So you spend an extra week checking it based on a few hours a day after work & a couple weekends total start to finish BUT you know its done correctly! Actually Fun on the stand & a PITA IN the Car!! Just my 2 cents as they say. Good Luck & take your time. Its not that bad.

PS: Buy Beer & Pizza & some friends will always pass by to help but take LOTS of Pics of stuff & Label Everything in baggies! Very Important when its your first time! This is a must with the pics & labels!
Click to expand...

Yes doing it out of car... I hope to learn a lot from doing this. I have been taking pictures before I take anything off...I'm sure it will still give me a fit
 
novaderrik said:
just start taking things apart until you can fix what needs to be fixed, then put it back together and try not to leave too many extra parts laying on the bench.
this is how i've always worked on stuff, and it's almost always worked out well.
Click to expand...

Except for that one time:eek:
 
i guess i am still young..i do everything in the car..replace head gaskets and pistons:D..it is easier to just pull the motor though...i bent a valve one time when the torque wrench got on a retainer...like was posted earlier once you have the heads off there isn't much left to do to get the motor out...Bob
 
Super6 said:
i guess i am still young..i do everything in the car..replace head gaskets and pistons:D..it is easier to just pull the motor though...i bent a valve one time when the torque wrench got on a retainer...like was posted earlier once you have the heads off there isn't much left to do to get the motor out...Bob
Click to expand...

you already fix yours?.....
 
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