Confession....I just cannot get started on HG replacment....

phils89sc

Registered User
About 1.5 months ago, I finally got my SC back on the road after a week of replacing the engine mounts, timing cover, valve cover gaskets....etc. She was running very well with the exception of a messed up idle due to a cheap IAC the previous owner had put in (not his fault, a victim of Advance Auto). About 1.5 weeks ago, she blew the HG's, just out of the blue. I really don't drive my SC hard at all, but I think the HG's have been done before I got it and someone just did a crappy job.
Anyway, she is parked now and has been for since the HG's blew. I am driving my Taurus (99) for now, but talk about boring!!! The problem is I just cannot seem to build up enough desire to want to start the HG replacement job on the SC! I guess I just am very disheartened with the whole thing. I mean I just barely got it back on the road, you know? I know I need to get it done, but the thought of tearing it all back down again....just gets to me...

Please tell me I am not the only one whe has felt this way about their SC's?
 
It's called dread and we all experince it. It's always easier to get started if you have a freind come over to help you.

David
 
It just happens sometimes, it's called being burned out. Tell you what you do: get all of the parts together, burn a couple of CDs to listen to while you work, make a pot of coffee for the morning and put a sixer on ice for the afternoon, set your alarm for 7:00 AM on a Saturday, and when that baby goes off, you snap in to action.
 
It's called dread and we all experince it. It's always easier to get started if you have a freind come over to help you.

David

I agree about this it always takes a friend to get me started unless it's somethig simple, I never care to rush because I have a 97 Taurus sho.
 
It is goood to know...

that I am not alone in this...I have had to build on to by bench in the carport to help with this. Dread is the very correct word for the job ahead!! I have a very bad back, but am the only one that can do it. Having a friend around to help would be nice. My father will probably come by to help me out. I guess at least I don't have to go through taking off the timing cover this time. That is a plus!!

I would farm this out, but I like to do the work myself, that way if something goes wrong, there is only one person to blame, me!!

Thanks for the advice though! I appreciate it!!
 
Most times, I enjoy working in my car. Like anything tho, there are particular episodes I'd prefer to avoid.

What I dread is being stranded or having to rely on someone else for transportation.

Sure, you can have another vehicle...but if it breaks down too, then you're stuck looking at them both in various stages of repair :)
 
Take 6 cold beers, carefully pour them down your gullet. Call a friend and pour 6 down his. Start antagonizing him about why he hasn't fixed your car.
Alan
 
Take 6 cold beers, carefully pour them down your gullet. Call a friend and pour 6 down his. Start antagonizing him about why he hasn't fixed your car.

As attractive as that plan sounds, it may be how this particular situation came about in the first place :)

>I think the HG's have been done before I got it and someone just did a crappy job.

I'm waiting to see some guy sitting at the freeway onramp with a sign that says "SC needs HGs - any little bit will help!"
 
Take 6 cold beers, carefully pour them down your gullet. Call a friend and pour 6 down his. Start antagonizing him about why he hasn't fixed your car.
Alan

Head gaskets will require more beer than that.....

At least a case per day.....:p
 
Took me two weekends to do the head gaskets on my 90. Mostly due to a stubborn bolt for the fuel rail and ground on the back of the drivers side head. I documented much of my trial in this thread:
http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76207&highlight=head+gasket

Lots of folks gave information that was useful. I went to ARP head bolts, but stuck with composite gaskets, as all I did was pull the heads, clean them off, suck the coolant out of the cylinders, and then slap the new gaskets, head studs and heads back on. New intake manifold bolts as well. I did it that way as eventually that motor will come back apart and get freshened up. Then I'll do the MLS gaskets.
 
Funny you should mention that fuel pressure regulator bracket...

Took me two weekends to do the head gaskets on my 90. Mostly due to a stubborn bolt for the fuel rail and ground on the back of the drivers side head. I documented much of my trial in this thread:
http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76207&highlight=head+gasket

Lots of folks gave information that was useful. I went to ARP head bolts, but stuck with composite gaskets, as all I did was pull the heads, clean them off, suck the coolant out of the cylinders, and then slap the new gaskets, head studs and heads back on. New intake manifold bolts as well. I did it that way as eventually that motor will come back apart and get freshened up. Then I'll do the MLS gaskets.


Because that is exactly where I am stuck!! I got the top nut off, but can't seem to get the bottom bolt off from the top!! What a ~~~~!! I am gonna check out that thread. Thanks
 
Well, the second Friday ago, I found out my motor went bad on my '89. I went ahead and took the heads off of that motor, the following Wednesday, just to get the disassembly started. The very next day, this Thursday, I blew a head gasket, on my '94. An hour after figuring it was the head gaskets, I wasn't even trying to get those negative emotions or thoughts flowing in my head, and JUST DID WORK because that's what I do!! I got it all down to the head bolts that same day. The next morning, I took the head bolts out and straight to the machine shop they went.

Since school starts again, on Monday, I won't have enough time to finish it in a day, but this week, it'll be running again!! Once I'm done with building a new motor for the '89, it'll be running again sometime, in September, hopefully.

But, hey, not everyone is "Casey 'Do Work, Son!!' McCarty" so I understand, since I have a 55 year old father, that not everyone is so motivated. Follow some recommendations listed in this thread to give you a boost!!

Good luck with everything!
 
Because that is exactly where I am stuck!! I got the top nut off, but can't seem to get the bottom bolt off from the top!! What a ~~~~!! I am gonna check out that thread. Thanks

The fuel rail wasn't a hassle for me, in the least. Take the return plenum off, get a 1/4" drive ratchet with a short 10mm socket, and it's off. The A-hole nuts are the ones behind the JS pulley and most of all, the one behind the power steering pump.
 
The fuel rail wasn't a hassle for me, in the least. Take the return plenum off, get a 1/4" drive ratchet with a short 10mm socket, and it's off. The A-hole nuts are the ones behind the JS pulley and most of all, the one behind the power steering pump.

Mine is just the opposite. I would have had it all the way down to the head bolts yesterday as well had it not been for that ridiculous FPR bracket. I spent at least 3 hours trying to find a way to get my gorilla hands on it. Just when I though I had it...Not!!!!!!!!!
 
We decided to go ahead and replace the HGs on the silver 5 speed....:rolleyes:

I got the interior completely stripped out and Dave got everything off the engine down to the valve covers before we called it a day....

The FPR bolt can be a pain, but you just have to out think it....:p

PS: this SC just keeps giving and giving....

I found over $25.00 in loose coins when I pulled the seats out.....:D
 
Here is how I got that bolt off:
Yahtzee! I got it.

Pulled the coolant line, ran a 6point 13mm deep well impact socket back there from the passenger side to the bolt on the driver side with a 1/2 drive wrench and a piece of conduit that I could slide out for extra leverage. Broke it loose.

I basically used a pry bar, or you could use a block of wood to help support the handle of the socket wrench after I slipped the socket onto the nut. I then went to the passenger side and leaned all the way across the motor and grabbed the conduit on the handle and pushed. When it came loose it "snapped" loose.

if you don't have a piece of conduit that fits over your socket wrench, I highly recommend it. Get a beefy 1/2 craftsman or other brand that will replace it if it breaks and use that with the conduit.
 
just recently RE&RE mine, but found it not that bad to do :eek:

But i guess if it's semi seized in the head (like steel bolts can and will do in Aluminum) i can see it being a ~~~~ thou.
 
just take your hood and cowl panels off. followed by your upper IC tube and blower/plenum. once you get all that off, you'll look down and realize its not a big deal. from there its just your acc. brackets, lower ic tube, lower intake, and heads. a few little steps in between, but its not a bad job if you take your time on it and dont allow yourself to get frustrated.

dont set deadlines, you'll rush and mess something up.
 
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