|
Head Swap Pictorial
|
 
|
So my valve stems were leaking. At least that is what all the symptoms pointed to so one day when doing a small project I decided to just do the head swap. I had been collecting all the parts for some time and they were cluttering up the bedroom and closet and under the bed and my desk, so I figured I might as well do it now. Then I won't smoke in the morning, I will have nice cleaned and balanced injectors, ceramic coated exhaust parts, a tap for my turbo manifold and tons of other 'little things' that needed to be done. My big list of things I did was:
So it was quite an endeavor and took a while cus I had to wait for parts from Toyota, some for 3 weeks! But if I am lucky it will all work when I get it back together *crosses his fingers* and no BHG. I also hope that cleaning the cylinders, I used MCCC (Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner) won't cause my compression to go phhtttt. But here is my photo blog of the reassembly process. The TSRM section covers it pretty well so this will just be for my record and a nice photo journal of my progress. Cylinder CleaningI almost always had smoke in the morning and a coat of oil on the IC piping. But my vacuum and compression tests were perfect so I wasn't worried. When I took off the head and got a look at the pistons I saw just how much carbon had built up in there from the oil:
To clean this mess I used MCCC (Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner) that I got at my local Dodge dealer. Basically rotate the crank until all the pistons are as low as you can get them then spray it into them. It will foam so you will have to go around but I used one can for all six cylinders. After I sprayed each can I would let it sit over night then use a bunch of paper towels to soak it up. In the end I used 4 cans and I had to use a small screwdriver on some stubborn parts. I also rotated the pistons one cycle each time and wiped off the junk that came off the rings. When I was done I even rotated each piston to the top and vacuumed the ring area to try to get all the bits out. After all was said and done it looked like:
Did you know they were that colour? The glistening is a coating of oil I put on the cylinder and the piston to keep them protected after sitting for so long. After you do this change your oil. Then after you have run the car once change it again. Starting outBefore you reassemble everything you should make sure the head bolt holes are clean and the threads are good. This is also a good time to coat them with whatever lubricant you will use. I used the special moly lube from ARP. After you do this clean the block of all old gasket material:
Putting your head on straightNow you can place the head gasket on the block and the head on that. Use two people and try not to scratch the bottom. You can install a bunch of things on the head before you put it on to make it easier. I installed:
But leave the cams off. That saves weight and makes installing the head bolts much much easier. I tightened my ARP head bolts to 75 ft/lb in 10 steps (finger tight, 5 ft/lb, 10 ft/lb, 15 ft/lb, 25 ft/lb, 35 ft/lb, 45 ft/lb, 55 ft/lb, 65 ft/lb, 75 ft/lb. When you are tightening make sure that the wrench turns. If yours "clicks" without moving change your steps to bigger amounts like 15 ft/lb or 20 ft/lb. It is also better not to use a clicker style wrench because the bolts stretch so you should hold it on the torque for a couple of seconds until its all done. FYI the ARP head bolt uses a 12 point 0.5in socket. Then wait about 5 minutes and do it at 75 ft/lb to make sure. Then give it overnight so everything can crush/settle and check it at 75 ft/lb again. I then placed the cam covers on at this time to protect the internals for dust, but I didn't tighten them down cus there are no cams yet. It would have been nice to taken a picture of this, sorry. You will check the torque again after 10 heat cycles then 500 miles. Until the first check drive slow!
The Little StuffNow you get to connect all the little stuff:
Of course the wiring harness will be the funnest as you have to remember where all those little connectors go. Remember to be careful with the knock sensor connectors, and careful in general cus those wires can be brittle.
Assemble Upper IntakeBefore we put the upper intake on we can put a lot of parts on it. In fact it is much much easier if you do this now. So take the upper intake and add to following:
Upper Intake and StuffNow we will connect all the fuel hoses and pipes back up. We have one already hooked up from when we put the head together now we just have to do the others. So now connect:
Camshafts and StuffYou could have installed the cams and assorted goodies while you had the head out but it is much lighter with them out, and I had to wait on some shims so I did it now :). It also makes it easier to tighten the head bolts with it out. Now you will install:
You will notice that the exhaust manifold is off. I found that the bolts were slipping so I had to take it out and heli-coil them. This was fun. Given the current age of our heads I would suggest just doing this while the heads are off. When I was putting it on the rear one held the torque. Since it is hard to drill I decided not to heli-coil it since it seemed fine. While putting on the manifold the second time it didn't hold the 29ft/lb. It is at 27ish now so I will just pray.
Odds and EndsNow we will put on a bunch of the little things we have left. Basically everything but the intake hoses and the turbo.
Turbo and IntakeFinally you are ready to put the turbo on. Attach all the pipes to the turbo first and put them on the block after you get it on the car, its actually easier this way. If you took the pipes off make sure you scrape all the gasket material off really well. I pulled the studs and cleaned it so I will have no surprises. Then connect the coolant hoses to it and put the power steering stuff back on then the intake junk. Now you can fill up the radiator and power steering system. Check to make sure that you have no left over parts! Before you start your car disconnect the CPS and Ignition system connector and crank it for 15 seconds to build up the oil pressure. I fired mine up and after burning off that light coat of oil it ran perfect and is still doing so over a month later :). Now its 5-speed swap time. You might want to have someone in the engine bay ready to top off the power steering system. Let it run for 10 minutes and check very carefully for leaks, over heating, or anything else strange. Then drive it carefully for the next week then retorque.
Follow UpAfter babying it for 10 heat cycles, one week, I took it apart to do the following:
|
