Ok, well, as you know, i have a 91 Pont firebird, 305 TBI,

well, my car was overheating badly, i took it in, they said it was the heater core, swapped it, (was hell) then still was.


i took it back in, today i called in, they say that its a cracked head.

well a thirdgenner friend lives nearby and he has a 89 305 carbed, that he can sell me, its missing two head bolts and a valve cover.

no big deal i figure, so anyways,



How Hard Is IT to swap heads ??? i did search the old posts and found no info.
i need any ANY info you can give, PLEASE, :hail:


-Rick

 

its not to bad. well...I've never done it on a car, but I've done a few on tractors and small engines.

89? are they center bolt heads?, cause in 89 they didn't have a carb engine, so it is either a former fi block, or a older 305 swapped in

 

I guess I should have also said to have a helping hand around (heads are heavy)

and make sure you have the gaskets, torque wrench, etc.

 

If it's the first time you've dove into an engine, take careful notes about how things came apart. Even simple things that you swear you couldn't forget how it came apart. Label everything you can. Put small parts into ziploc baggies with labels in them or you can write on them with a marker.
It's not hard, you just need to be careful and pay attention to details.

 

just make shure to align the distributor on the #1 at 0 degrees and dont crank down the rockers, i set mine to zero lash then go to 9/16 after turn, and do the torquing in stages andin sequence.
Chris.

 

put all pieces back on from where they came off...take pics...you'll have to remove the intake manifold and all the rockers and the pushrods....be sure to spin the pushrods as ro tighten to rockers down for zero lash then give another 1/2 turn after they stop spinning.....shouldn't take too long....follow head torquing sequence in any chevy v8 manual...mine was over heating i aliitle and changed the thermostat and it runs great....i also flushed the rad and added new coolant and a new water pump....hope this helps

 

Remember when you torque down the heads, to go clockwise from the inside out, increasing the torque levels each time you repeat the process.

As stated above, label everything. I did this when I swapped my engine, and it made it way easier to install.

 

It's not too bad, just make sure you torque them heads on right and clean the gasket surfaces.

By the way, how can a heater core make a car overheat?????
Before you swap heads, you might want a second opinion on why it's overheating

 

i am wondeirng hte same hting my car over heated a while back and i am trying to figure out why i can never keept he temp. down anymore. The car has 2 cooling fans one pusher and one puller a new radiator i really dont know what else it could be. i have an offer to buy 305tpi heads for 50 dollars should i go for it?


sorry to post on you topic man

Shawn

 

I must stress this for anyone who has changed their heads. Invest in a new set of cylinder head bolts. The old ones are not to be reused. Once torqued to spec, the bolts experience stretching that when put on a second time, will not hold the same as before. They are designed to be torqued once and if taken off replaced. This can and will lead to cracked heads, blown gaskets in the long run. Its the way engine bolts are designed. Its a small price to pay compared to replacement heads.