Hey, I started my car up today after getting back to college to start working on it again. The engine after driving it around the parking lot was shooting black smoke out of just the driver side heads( I have dual exhaust ), and the temperature was steady at 215, and steam started to shoot out the thermastat housing where the gasket is.

So I was thinking about replacing the head gaskets tomorrow, since I figure it was pushing air through either a bad gasket or bad head, and was burning oil for the same reason.

I have a set of 305 heads that I know are not cracked so my plan was to do this.

replace the head gaskets currently in it and try running it and hope that its not the heads but if it still shows simular symptoms was just going to put the 305 heads on.

I don't know if there is a system to taking the heads off, or putting them back on, is there anything I need to look for? I have the torque spec's is there a tightening order? any info would be great.


- Firl

 

basically what i did when i swapped heads for the first time was i actually wrote down on paper the parts i removed in order, took my time and just checked stuff twice if i was unsure of something. keep all your tools and parts separated. it's not a hard job just involves taking a lot of stuff out. i took about 5 days to do it but like i said, i went slow, and everything turned out fine. also you'll need to adjust valve lash before putting on the valve covers.

 

Im doing my head gaskets now, first timer too, its ALOT easier than you'd think.Just alot of work. Take some pics as you go helps too. Its really not as hard as you think.When you stand infront of the car and look at the motor it seems Very hard but its not.

 

just for me to get an idea in my head, take valve covers off, take intake off, leave exhaust manifolds and spark plugs in, take head bolts off, lift the heads up put the gaskets in and reseat head? is that the "taking a lot of stuff out" you were talking about?

 

Helpfull tip for first tymers (with a bad memory) Get a piece of cardboard and when you pull a bolt, put it in a hole in the cardboard and write the name down. As for nuts put them on the cardboard and circle them with the name written in the circle. Very safe way.

 

unbolt the exhaust and take the head out atleast to check things over. look for cracks, debris on the cylinders, etc.

goodluck with it, its really not that tuff

 

I put all the bolts that go to each part in a plastic bag and wrote on the bag, ei intake manifold bolts, valve cover bolts etc. If you pull your distributor make sure you mark where the rotor is pointing on the dist before you pull it and mark where its pointing right after you pull it. that way you can put it back in exactly as it was.Buy some pb blaster. and now would be a good time to polish or paint anything. also no easier time to change plugs. Umm, keep your lifters/rods whatever you call them seperate, like in a shoe box with holes cut in it, place them in the order they came out. My car is a v6, all the bolts came out pretty easy but now that im down to the exhaust bolts its getting to be a real pita. once i get them loose its time to put it all back together. Also i dont know if it would help you any but if you check the v6 board alot of people have posted advice on my head gasket replacement. Maybe some of it will help.