Well i have a blown head gasket and i plan on doing it myself since i do not have the financial capability to get it done by a mechanic. I have done work on my car in the pass like replacing the radiator and other small projects but was wondering if there was some type of guide that could help me step by step through the process. I own the haynes manual but it really offers a limited information on the process so any help would be greatly apreciated.
By the way the car is a 92 305 tbi v8.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tbi/262466-lt1-cam-digest-ultimate.html

That's a thread detailing a cam swap, but a head gasket repair is essentially the same, except you don't remove the radiator, front cover, balancer and water pump. Just skip the steps you don't need.

- Drain coolant
- Remove throttle body and emissions equipment
- Mark rotor position and remove distributor
- Remove intake
- Remove rockers and pushrods
- Remove heads
- Put in new gaskets and installation is reverse of removal.

 

if you blew a headgasket id recommend taking your heads to a machine shop to have them checked for cracks and also to cut them so theyre a flat surface because the heat might have warped them and it wont be good if you do all that work for nothing.

 

if you can afford it , might as well do a valve job on both heads . if not make sure head is not warped before you re-install . good luck .

 

My other question that i wanted to ask is there any upgrades that are worth while or easy to do while the heads are disassembled. I have roughly 700 dollars to spend that i have saved to put into the car.
By the way thank you everyone who responded!

 

spend some of that money to get the heads straightened. also maybe get an lt1 cam and DIY chip burning equiptment. you could also buy an edelbrock tbi intake manifold since thatll have to come off anyways. headers? lots of things you can do depends on what you want. do you want to tune? how much time you want to put into it? etc.

 

This is not a small job and with limited experiance I'd be careful not to get in over your head. Now is the time to call in a favor if you have any friends who knows how to do something like this. Help with major engine tear down and more importantly, assembly, is recomended..

If you have $700 to spend have you priced the job out at a shop? Call around a few places and see how close you are to paying (gasp) someone to do it for you...

I agree you will need the heads done (milled and valve job) at a machine shop.

Also you need to find the cause of the overheating before you run your engine after all this.

Sometimes its OK to pay to get a big job done. I've bought several cars that were torn down and never completed...

 

also for what it's worth, haynes manual covers most all of it IIRC. How great the manual is i'm not sure, haven't done it myself but it does do step by step, spring by spring, rod by rod, describing tools, suggestions, how to get to things, ect. Might want to invest the $15 or so on the book. Could prove worth while in the future. Good luck!!

 

imo scrue haynes manuals, biggest waste of money ever.

I mean yes if you have very very little knowledge it's helpful but, honestly i find them more of a hindrance than a help.

on the camaros they are so generalized its about useless. + being that they are like a third the size of the factory shop manual they leave out a lot of steps.

usually it seems thorough until u tear it down but, then it becomes obvious that is surely is anything but, thorough.

if i werre you i'd take lots of digital camera pics as you tear it down. Also make sure you lay the parts out as they come off. Make sure to recondition all bolts and threaded holes. Be sure to make sure you get a proper seal and the front and rear china walls on the block (i prefer mr gaskets right stuff silicone about a 3/8 bead front and back overlapping on the the head to intake gasket). Although if you have the rubber gaskets for the china walls instead of cork then u can just put a glob in the corner but, i still prefer the silicone myself.

Biggest thing make sure you index the dizzy correctly or are willing to start over to scratch to reset the timing if not.

basically it's straightforward as can be, make sure you torque your head bolts too. Just be maticulous and take lots of photos and spend your time laying everything out carefully as you pull it off.

btw definetly do check the heads for straightness at a minimum (valve job would also be a nice idea tho).