changing my headgasket soon

[nando]

I'll I have a chance to pull my head off tomorrow to fix a coolant leak. I just need to make sure I have everything: head bolts, gasket, intake gaskets, & exhaust gaskets. I'm not touching the head, it's fine and only needs to last another year.

I'll be picking up a timing belt (no reason to put an old one back on), but I wanted to know if I can reuse my new exhaust manifolds again when I redo my exhaust? (I have cracked downpipes)

Are either the valve stem seals or the camshaft seals simple to replace? (i.e. no special tools required). my cam is worn so I thought about replacing it (shrick 272/272 or something), but I don't really want to put too much money into this motor (as I'd need all new rocker arms & eccentrics, etc). I also have a set of new valve springs.

oh, I also only have 1.5 days to do this, since I work saturday morning and have both school and work on monday morning.. yay. so no major head work here.

alternatively I could wait until the quarter is over and spend a bunch of money on the head when I can afford to not be driving my car. hmm..

[modifiede30]

If you're doing the head, might as well do the water pump. If you're willing to pull the valve train apart, you could install new seals for the valves and install the springs at the same time. The cam seals are easy enough to do, but disassembling the valvetrain sounds like it might be a bit much if you don't have the right tools and are crunched for time.

[kowalski]

i agree 1.5 days is not enough tome expecialy if you get stuck... just go to the store and buy a top end gasket kit will come with everything you need, including the exhaust manifold gaskets which you should replace cause they are crush gaskets.

[nando]

yeah, I have the gasket kit. it's raining this weekend anyway, so I'm just going to wait.

[modifiede30]

If you're not going to do the valve seals, at least do the cam gaskets and replace the water pump while you're doing the t-belt.