the mechanic i brought my car to said that i have compression loss in 2 of my cylinders on the passenger side. so he wanted to send the head off to have the valves replaced for a large some of money.

so i have decided just to buy a new head and replace it myself. if it comes complete with all the valves and springs, is there anything more to it besides bolting it on, putting in my pushrods, and bolting on my rockers?

ive never done this before, so please help!

 

Is it 2 cylinders side by side?

If thats the case, its probably a headgasket...


If not how is he so sure its the valves?



But anyways, a head swap is fairly simple and straight forward.

Are you running any sort of aftermarket cam? If so you will be best to swap the springs to match the cams requirements.

Other than that drop in on, lash the rockers, install intake and your good to go.

 

Just make sure that, in the end, you have a matching set of heads (same castings, same valve size, etc) or you can run into some really bizzare running problems.

 

This is so much easier than you think it is, how well i know. I pulled the heads for the first time and asked a few questions here and some friends, and i pretty much had it straight forward. Pull heads, clean mating surfaces, replace gasket, put head on, torque down in order and in the respectful amount of torque, pushrods, set valve lash, Chiltons/Haynes work awsome for this, intake...ect...ect...ect....

 

i do have a aftermarket cam that was installed by the previous owner. im not sure if he changed the valve springs or not. is there any way i can verify what kind of springs i have on now?

 

Valve spring pressure tester. Summit and i am sure Jegs also has them. They are not cheap though....in the neighborhood of about $200.