Am I Crazy......

COYOTE

Registered User
OK, GOT A 92 SC FOR $300.OO (YEP, THATS RIGHT, $300) AND NEEDS SERIOUS HEAD GASKET WORK. BUT HERE IS THE PROBLEM: I AM SERIOUSLY BUCKS DOWN, THE ONLY REASON I EVEN GOT THE CAR WAS IT SEEMS TO BE A SCREAMIN' DEAL. SO I AM GOING TO ATTEMPT TO PUT THIS PUPPY TOGETHER MYSELF. SO HERE ARE THE DUMB NEWBIE QUESTIONS...... 1)DO I NEED ANY SPECIAL TOOLS TO TAKE IT APART?? 2)WHILE I HAVE IT APART, ANYTHING SPECIAL I NEED TO REPLACE SO I DONT HAVE TO DO THIS AGAIN???? 3) DO I NEED MY HEAD EXAMINED FOR TRYING TO DO THIS MYSELF????? THANKS!!!:p
 
I can't think of anything real far out of the ordinary tool wise. Just make sure you have a good (read not made in China or India) set of sockets, ratchets, extension, wrenches, etc. You can remove the upper IC tube with the top still attached if you do not have the spanner wrench to loosen that fitting. Make sure you use a high quality six point socket on the old head bolts when you take them off. Use Fel-Pro gaskets and you will also need new head bolts. I replace the o2 sensor at least on the side that blew. It is a good idea to at least do the plugs if not wires as well. Make sure the block deck is extremely clean and free of any old gasket material. I usually scrape it down with a razor blade prior to assembly. I also usually have the heads milled to ensure a good flat mating surface. The cylinder head gasket kit you get should come with new valve seals. Now is as good a time as any to replace them. You will also need something to reseal the IC tubes upon reassembly. TBird88 sells a set of reusable gaskets for around $15 or you can try the various RTV gasket sealers or the $40 kit from Ford. For the money and ease of installation I don't think you can beat TBird88's gasket kit. There are a lot of little hidden bolts and things that are hard to get to. Take your time. You do not have to completely remove the fuel rail from the engine bay, just unbolt it from the intake and lay it on the passenger side fenderwell. Same goes for the A/C compressor and the P/S pump. You will have to support these off to the side, but you do not need to remove them from the car. Good luck, label everything, and take your time. Also, make sure to change the oil and filter before you start it back up again. Depending on how long the previous owner ran it with the blown HG's you may need to consider a bottom end rebuild. That is up to you and how bad the oil looks when you drain it out.

Forgot to add: Follow the head bolt torque sequence to a "T". It can be a little confusing the first time through.
 
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answers to your questions

1) No special tools are needed. Just typical ratchet/socket and wrench set, and various little things like a gasket scraper, and maybe some other little stuff that I can't remember right now. If you have a lift available, it will make your life a lot easier, but it is not absolutely necessary.

2) Make sure you have the heads machined. Not machining them is just begging to do the job over in a few thousand miles. New head bolts are also a very good idea. For what little they cost and to save you from the chance of having to redo the whole job, they are definitely worth it. I would also replace the spark plugs while you can get to them. Spring for a set of platinums, and it will save you from several hours of work later down the road.

3) Yes, you do. But then again, we gearheads are not always known for being the most sane of people, so I'd say you are in good company in your insanity and not to worry about it. I got my SC for $400, and about 20 times during the course of the job I was ready to part the car out and set the rest of the car on fire, but once you get it all up and running I promise there will be nothing but a smile from ear to ear. Worst possible case though, you get half way into it, discover that you can't do this, part the car out and you will have doubled your $300 and learned quite a bit along the way. Give it a try, take your time, and just ask questions here along the way on anything you don't understand. Under the hood of these cars is rather cramped and over-engineered in the stupidest ways, but there really isn't anything too hard to figure out. If you have a decent amount of mechanical knowledge, you shoudn't have a problem getting the job done right. My only other advice would be to keep track of everything you take off, and make notes as you take it apart of where and how things are attached. Good luck.
Mike
 
one more thing

i have read a million and one things on people saying u just need a good set of tools like sockets and stuff. Well that is true to a certain extent but u will probably need a Power steering pulley remover and intaller to make life easier and also deep sockets make life so much easier. Make sure you have got a snake extension for your ratchets too or else you will end up tired with bloody knuckles about a million times
as u can see by my signature i am speaking all of this from first hand experience.
 
One thing I didn't see mentioned or just over looked is a shop manual. It will help greatly. And I'm not talking a Chiltons either. Get the Ford shop manual. I really never worked on a car before my SC and I had it down to the heads. I didn't take them of because 1)I don't have a blown HG yet and 2) they were replaced about 60k miles ago anyway.

I would have to disagree with Night-Ryder though. I don't think that you need power steering pulley remover. I didn't remove my power steering pully/pump from the accessory braket. I just removed the bracket from the head. It can be done. I had everything off of my heads and decided that since the heads were replaced, I didn't need to replace the HGs. Not now anyway. The biggest thing that I found was getting an assortment of universal joint sockets. That helped incredibly. I spent about $150-$200 on tools to get the job done. And that is because I didn't have any tools to start with!

Bottom line has already been stated, take your time and label everything. It doesn't hurt to find a gear head who you can ask questions. Under the supercharger it is a regular engine.
 
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