Time for new head gaskets! Secrets?

beautymachine

Registered User
Hey ya'll!

First post, I've been a member for awhile, have read hundreds of posts just hadn't had time to work on my SC yet.

Story: A family friend gave me his '90 SC, it had "brake issues", and had been sitting for probably 5 years without running.

I did the routine "crappy old un-ran car" maintenance ; oil, coolant, spark plugs, wires, filters etc.

Long story short I was burning up the old rear tires and ended up blowing my head gasket (who would have thought...;) )

SOOO having not done the heads on this motor (I'd like to think I'm a fairly competent mechanic) are there any tricks/tips one of ya'll more experienced fellas might have? Its all going down this weekend, I've taken a few things off the motor already. Top-end gasket got in yesterday. I also am converting to the power boost brake setup while I have some more room under the hood to move around. The stupid ABS is going to get smashed when I'm done taking it out...

Thanks ya'll!

Travis
 
Hey ya'll!

First post, I've been a member for awhile, have read hundreds of posts just hadn't had time to work on my SC yet.

Story: A family friend gave me his '90 SC, it had "brake issues", and had been sitting for probably 5 years without running.

I did the routine "crappy old un-ran car" maintenance ; oil, coolant, spark plugs, wires, filters etc.

Long story short I was burning up the old rear tires and ended up blowing my head gasket (who would have thought...;) )

SOOO having not done the heads on this motor (I'd like to think I'm a fairly competent mechanic) are there any tricks/tips one of ya'll more experienced fellas might have? Its all going down this weekend, I've taken a few things off the motor already. Top-end gasket got in yesterday. I also am converting to the power boost brake setup while I have some more room under the hood to move around. The stupid ABS is going to get smashed when I'm done taking it out...

Thanks ya'll!

Travis

Use the chevy studs. Use Fel Pro gaskets. I torqued the nuts for the studs to 95 lbs. Higher than quoted but than I run a lot of boost. Use black permatex around water ports on the lower intake gaskets. Torque the bolts and leave them for awhile and return to check. Its not a horrible job, you just have to jump in with both feet and post questions here. Almost everyone here has done it at least once

Ken
 
It's a pain taking the engine apart for the first time.

The IC tubes are held with a stud & nut under the upper IC pipe, one stud & nut at the very bottom of the lower IC pipe, and one bolt (I think) about midway up the lower IC pipe. The last fastener is hard to get to. You can delete that bracket & bolt on reassembly if you want to.

You will need a power steering pulley puller to remove the pulley, which will let you get at the bolts & nuts for the driver's side accessory bracket. Careful using it so you don't jack up the threads inside the pump shaft. It is barely possible to sneak in with a flex-head ratchet and avoid pulling the pulley, but it's really not worth the hassle in my opinion.

There is a small rubber coolant hose running through a pipe that is part of the throttle body. It's there to prevent throttle body icing in frigid conditions. If you don't live somewhere really cold, you can delete it. It will make it much easier to remove and replace the blower & plenum in the future.

There is a stud-bolt holding the fuel rail and a ground strap to the rear of the driver's side head. It is hard to get at. You might want to remove the cowl panels to help you get that out. (It will help you get the blower and plenum assembly out too.)

The studs and nuts holding the exhaust manifolds to the downpipes are probably rusted tight. Do your best to get them off without rounding the nuts, but if you can't, just get out the cutoff wheel and cut the studs. You will probably have to take the manifolds to a machine shop to get the remnants of the studs out, but oh well, at least you can put in new stainless ones.

You may want to replace the motor mounts while you have the accessories off. They are easy to get at then, but hard at any other time! They may be shot on your car, based on the mileage. New mounts make the car feel so much smoother than collapsed ones.

Check the rocker arms for wear. If they have two raised bumps where they ride on the fulcrums, then they are worn out. Here is the best price I have found on stock rocker arms: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd...49&item=170224142442&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT ... Or if you want, you can upgrade to roller rockers for about $130 more.

Take the heads to a machine shop and get the heads pressure-tested and checked for flatness. They will most likely need to be resurfaced for flatness. The valves and seals may need some work as well.

There are other tips & tricks as well.

I wouldn't expect it to be done in one weekend.

Also, don't smash up your ABS unit ... there may be something simple wrong with it. At the least, it could be used for core parts. Member "the-big-e" stocks some parts for the ABS system and might want it.
 
Last edited:
Use chevy 2.8 v6 ARP studs and felpro blue... you should be fine..DEFINITELY get your heads checked....I didnt and had a crack last time around
 
re

Thanks all!

got the heads off yesterday, sure enough a blow through cylinder #5 into water jacket. It looked like a pretty clean blow too, not alot of damage to any other parts of the gaskets.

The job has DEFINITELY been done before, you know how you can just tell when bolts come off easier than factory?

only bolt that broke was on the intake manifold into the head, it sheared in half, havent tried to vice-grip the remains out of the hole yet. Other than that, all exhaust studs out like a charm! Heads look in real good condition too, Im tempted to slam them all back in with the new gaskets...hum...bad idea probably.

thanks for the heads up on the motor mount! passenger side is def blown, whole engine leans that way. I'll grab one of those.

thanks again!


travis
 
maybe think about replacing all the upper-end bolts, intake - blower and such to a better grade bolt - 12.9grade
ARP's for the heads, like mentioned the chevy 2.8's
same thing happened to me...intake bolts breaking...

cheers
 
Just curious, why are the chevy studs recommended? I checked out the arp website and they have a kit for the super coupe with a different part number than the chevy. Is there a difference between the 2?
 
The Chevy studs are a bit shorter (and cheaper) than the Fords....

ARP recommends that you bottom tap all holes prior to installation.....

After that, the Ford studs work perfectly.....:D
 
I just helped my buddy do headgaskets on his sc (94) he picked up a set of arp head studs specific for the sc and the only issue we ran into was the exhaust manifolds had to be modified to fit. The head studs stick up higher than the oe replacement head bolts keep this in mind when doing headgaskets with arp head studs.
 
the chevy arp studs were about half the cost of the ford 3.8 kits and you cant put the exhaust manifolds back on untill you cut the top of the stud off even with the nut.
 
Be careful doing that....

You will have a harder time re-using them if you ever have to take the heads off again....
 
Last edited:
Kevin Leitem recently pointed out that the SC-specific kit has a much larger washer. So it spreads the clamping force out a little better. I am not sure if it's critical, but it is an advantage of the more expensive SC kit. I don't know any other advantages that would justify the price difference. You can actually buy the larger washers separate and install them with the Chevy kit. That is what I would recommend if you already have that kit.
 
Just wondering which arp head bolts spinning wheels sells the ford or the chevy head bolts cause I just ordered them and forgot about the difference.:eek:
 
Back
Top