hey guys so i have a blown head gasket, so im thinking i will do it myself. i have never done them before. i know its time consuming and such, but i want to know actual difficulty. as some of you know i am young and dont know tons about engines. but i am not stupid either. lol. so my question is can i do it? also is there any tutorials on it?
how hard is it to change head gaskets ?
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R.J.
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The job is not hard at all just make sure you have some type of manual (Haynes)for all of the correct torques and patterns. The things that will go above and beyond just removing and reinstalling bolts are the things you should have done while the car is apart. Rebuild/recondition the heads (and/or upgrade components) for example, you might want to drop them off at a machine shop and have them professionally cleaned, checked and rebuilt. Also if you have never installed a distributor, it is not as straight forward as correctly torquing a bolt but its also in the books and not really hard at all.
Wouldn't be a bad idea to change out some seals as well and clean the injectors and such. Whatever you have apart, just do a once over on and tidy things up a bit. The heads aren't that hard as RJ said, just make sure you have the time and tools, autozone will sell you a torque wrench for about $90, and you can take it back when your done if you don't want to keep it.
I'll be finishing up my head gasket's on my car in the next couple days and it's been my first time tearin something down like this. (i've rebuilt a few 350 chevys, but all were carbed and built to some elses expense)
Just remember to take your time, label everything and if it takes a gasket, replace it.
Just remember to take your time, label everything and if it takes a gasket, replace it.
It's not hard, but very time consuming. I would be a -1 for having the heads rebuilt. E7TE heads actually last just find, and really don't need much machine work. If you are going to spend money to have the stock heads rebuilt, you are half way to buying better aluminum heads. I would recommend checking the heads for straightness. All you need is a straight edge and a feeler gauge. If it's your first time doing the head gaskets, give yourself a full weekend to do it.
Kurt
Kurt
R.J.
Member
How many miles are on the car? I removed my heads for a stock replacement rebuild @120,000 miles and I needed 8 exhaust valves, 2 intake valves, 2 valve guides. The head part of your heads might be find but I would take a look at all of the components.
nmcgrawj
Advanced Member
Labora
Founding Member
It is a good bit of work, and will be pretty big undertaking if you are not confident in your skills to do it all. Very doable with time and patience.
As for rebuilding the heads, at the least I would have them checked by a Machine shop. It cost me 75$ a head to have new seals, valves cleaned, seats cleaned, heads resurfaced etc. 125$ is pretty far from getting aluminum heads in my book (which are closer to 800$ for a USED pair), if you can afford a head upgrade now is certainly the time to do it.
As for rebuilding the heads, at the least I would have them checked by a Machine shop. It cost me 75$ a head to have new seals, valves cleaned, seats cleaned, heads resurfaced etc. 125$ is pretty far from getting aluminum heads in my book (which are closer to 800$ for a USED pair), if you can afford a head upgrade now is certainly the time to do it.
That's about half way to a rebuilt head. Usually a rebuild comes with new valve guides, new valves and springs, and a valve job on all the valve seats in addition to the things you listed. The standard price is about $300/head. You can get a pair of Thumper E7s starting at $599. If you are going to have the heads rebuilt, you might as well order the Thumpers and get the port work with it too.
Kurt
Labora
Founding Member
I had just got new locks/springs with a cam swap so wasn't needed. As for the other stuff the head guy said it wasn't needed so didn't bother. (Motor had 80k at most.) Like I said, have them checked and see what the options are. The place I took mine too would inspect heads for 25$ each which is pretty cheap to see what you are getting into.
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