Head gasket, what all do I need?

[Massimo]

Just did my first HG ever! Few Lessons learnt.

1. Take your time.
2. Take your time.
3. I used Roloc Pads From 3M to clean the block surface, They worked a treat I have been driving for 1 week now and no problems. I used 5 of them to clean the surface and pistons. Make sure you plug up the water and oil wells I got crap down them and ended up flushing them with Kerosen.
4. The head is a bit difficult to get back on. Make sure you tie the headers back so they do not get in your way.
5. If you do take your head to the mechinist check to make sure they have put all plugs back on the head. I did not do this and the first start up resulted in 3lt of oil on the ground. LOL.
6. Don't cut corners it will bite you in the ass.

It was not that hard just took me some time. The hardest part is putting the head bolts back on it feels like you are going to snap them. I would recommend getting a 750mm breaker bar for the 90 degree turns as my 450mm was a bit tighter then I like it to be.

If you have any questions feel free to pop me a pm.

And yes I will post pictures up soon guys I have just moved house and am waiting 10 days for my internets to get connected. I am posting this from work.

[Ryann]

Make sure you tie the headers back so they do not get in your way.

I strongly agree with this statement. I didn't do this and it made dropping the head in place (by myself) a PITA.

[Haraise]

Well. Head gasket is fine. Head isn't. -.-

[Dj Buttchug]

man that sucks

[Ryann]

Bummer.

Hey Chuggz, check out those ashy exhaust valves.

[siazul]

Great thread, great pictures. Im thinking I might have to do this soon on my e30 because it seems i spew white smoke for a good bit of time after ignition. (m20)

[Haraise]

Will an M44 head work on my M42?

[Haraise]

Oh, turns out the engine I'm looking at is actually from a 1995 M42. The head should work off of that, from what I've seen... just the IM is very different.

[Haraise]

The two heads don't line up:



That's the old head. The right (intake) cam has turned about 30 degrees to the left, as you can see by the white marks.



New head. The left (exhaust) cam lines up perfectly, the right (intake) cam is about 40 more degrees (in addition to the 30 of the misaligned white marks) turned at this point! I'm not sure what to do here.

[rjcaptsean]

What exactly are you trying to say here?

Were the cams not timed correctly before you installed the chain and gears? When you say "lines up"... with what??

[Haraise]

I haven't pulled the new head off the new engine yet.

The new head and old head both have the exhaust cam at one orientation, but they have intake cams in a different one.

[Dj Buttchug]

thats because the engine is at a different place in time than the first one.

the timing is the same.

[colorado_cabrio]

thats because the engine is at a different place in time than the first one.

the timing is the same.

this

[Haraise]

How could one cam be in the right place and one not though?

[rjcaptsean]

When the head is timed for top dead center, you will see it looks like this:


Notice the rear, where the wooden block is, you see two small indentations on each flat. Both of those should be facing up. At the front of the head, you will see that both the intake and exhaust cam lobes for cylinder one are roughly facing upwards, towards each other.

There is no way to install the cams incorrectly, so if the head is not on the engine (so there is no timing chain installed), you should be able to rotate each cam independently to line up. They will be hard to turn due to the resistance of the lobes against the lifters/springs, and they will want to rotate (snap) by themselves as you move them and the lobes slip off the lifters. Be careful of your fingers or other squishy parts.