Temporary Headgasket fix...

Well, many of you know that my head gasket sprung a leak. I am currently getting a head and getting parts to port and fully build the head. However, I want to try and replace my current headgasket with like a 40 dollar head gasket from advanced auto. This will only be on for like 3 months but, I can't deal with not being able to race my car anymore so I want a fix for those 3 months. Any tips or suggestions? Don't worry I'm not getting a super cheapo but, I'm not getting a copper gasket or anything. A buddy of mine(also has a dsm) has had good results with I think he said Feltech head gaskets so I am going to pick one up. This will also let me figure out if the head is cracked or warped depending on if it still overheats and what not. This will also give me practice with the head and all for when my head is complete the build and I have to swap it.

I just got home from advanced auto parts. I got a Fel-Pro head gasket. I said feltech but, it is a fel-pro. The buddy who recommended it has rebuilt 2 motors already and he said it is a good head gasket but, I shouldn't boost the crap out of it.

It will handle around 20psi. Felpro makes good gaskets.

So 20psi with ARP head studs or with stock head studs? Think I will be okay running 19psi of boost on it at the track?

It will handle around 20psi. Felpro makes good gaskets.

True most of my gasket in my talon, is felpro.

20psi on arps. You should never resure the stock ones, they are torque to yeild bolts and will never have the right torque again

I would always run ARPs, there are no benefits to sticking with the stock bolts that stretch when torqued, stretch when running high cylinder pressure, and are not reusable (even if they are "in spec" for length, IMO).

I'm not sure how good the felpro gasket is, but the stock composite gasket always worked very well for me, and I ran them right up until the end on the 2g. I'd still be running them, but the EVO uses a metal MLS HG stock. I'm sure the felpro will hold long enough for you though, but remember that timing is far more critical than boost as far as the HG goes. ;)

By the way what happened to the gsx?

The fel-pro is a good gasket (as everyone else has said)... it's in my '91 TSI daliy... and i'm boostin' 17...

Okay, sounds good. Yes I do have arps and I was not planning on replacing them, I am told they are good to reuse cause they are just so damn awesome lol. Remember though, that this head gasket only had to last me like 3 months while my other head is getting built then the titan headgasket is going on. I was running 24psi race and 19psi normally but, I guess I can hold back to just 19psi for the 3 months lol.

Okay, round 1 is done. I got the head off and the gasket off. The head is sitting about 8 inches above my block and the intake manifold is still on it. I plan on just lifting the head to clean it and replace the gasket. BUT, two things worry me.

First off, when removing the nuts for the head studs, two of the studs came out instead of the nut. I am kinda nervous about this because I know oil and or coolant got down into the hole. I know I will have to clean this out but, I am not sure how and I am not sure how I am going to get the nuts off the studs then put the studs back into the block.

Second, I slid my timing belt off of the cam gears and it came off fairly easy. However once I got it off I tried to slide it back on to see how hard it would be and damn is it hard. I know you can loosen the tension on the belt and slide it back on then tighten it but, I do not have a tool to do it. A few of my friends said that I should be able to slide it back on with a little effort though.

Third, I thought I had everything zeroed out but, I deffinatly didn't. When I slid my timing belt off both cam gears spun a little bit. I am 99.9% possitive they both spun the same amount but, I am going to check this tommarow.

Well tommarow is round 2. Wish me luck and if you have spotted anything that I have done horribly wrong or that will possibly fuck my car up real bad please be kind and let me know. Haha thanks.

The timing belt shouldn't be able to "slide off" or "slide on" easily, otherwise it could come off while running. When you took it off, the tensioner automatically tried to tension up the belt and now it's tensioned to the max, that's why you can't slide it back on. If you don't know how to do a T-Belt job, let me know and I can get you directions off of Mitchell On Demand, otherwise its in the VFAQ. I'm not sure what to do about your studs, but maybe try putting them back in with some lock tite and then try removing the nut after letting it dry for awhile, that's what we did on my buddies sprint car rear-end studs.

Oh yeah, and slap your friends because they are idiots for telling you the t-belt should slide back on easily.

You can still get the belt back on without special tools. Remove the hydraulic autotensioner and compress it very slowly in a vice, and stick the grenade pin in. If you don't have 30 grenade pins lying around like I do, a small drill bit works. Line everything up, install the belt, install the tensioner, double check the marks, and pull the grenade pin/drill bit. Tension is now exactly what it was before. Wether it's right or wrong, it's the same :)

The cam gears jumped because of the spring pressure pushing against the cams. Perfectly normal. When putting the belt back on, get some friends to put wrenches on the cam gears and hold them line up for you while you put the belt on and zip tie it to the gears. Then run the belt around the oil pump sprocket (phase the rear bshaft if you still have them, with the mark at 12 oclock let go of the pulley. If it rotates toward the mark it's good. If it rotates away from the mark, turn it one full turn and do the test again, and it will rotate toward the mark this time. Pure fuckin magic). Then run it around the crank making sure it is at the timing marks, then around the tensioner pulley (make sure you do not loosen that 14mm bolt in the center of the tensioner pulley, or you will be doing a full retension).

The nut should come right off the stud once it's out. Read the page on my site about ARP head studs if you haven't already.

Thanks everyone, I am about to head out to the garage so I will be sure to let you know how it goes.

I used a tiny allen key for the tensioner, it might slide out easier than a drill bit. I also used three allen keys to tension the tensioner pulley, I put one in each hole on the tensioner and used a third (larger one) to spin the pulley byputting it between the two others and prying.

Thanks guys. I did not get around to doing the timing tonight. I cleaned off the head and the block with a gasket scraper. I think I got it pretty good but, I am not sure on how clean it should be. I think my brother has some engine degreaser that I might use tommarow real quick before I install the head gasket and the timing belt. BTW I could not find a 11m 1.25 tap for the head studs. I am still not sure how I am going to clean out the head stud holes. Oh and yes the nuts slid right off the studs haha I didn't even try thinking it was going to be hard at first.

If I was thinking when I was loosening the head stud nuts, when I saw the stud came loose I should have loosened the nut then screwed the stud back in. Now, I have to figure out how to clean out the hole and make sure all the oil and/or coolant is out of the holes.

I don't know how fast you need this done but i have a oem head gasket i'll sell to you for cheap $15 plus shipping, i can ship express if you want.

I already bought a fel-pro headgasket a few days ago. I plan on getting this project finished up or damn near close to it tommarow. Thanks for the offer anyway.

you said liquid fell in the hole right? Why dont you just blow it all out with an air gun, thats what I did

Good idea. I was thinking about shop vacing it out with a home made funnel. Blowing it out sounds alot easier. Thanks.

Wow, this job is turning into a real pain in the ass. The head is ready to go and I am just trying to get to the timing belt. I have the water pump pully off, and the crank pully off. I got two belts off but I there is still one other belt that is wedged in there and I can't get it off. Also I can't pull off the lower timing belt cover. It looks like there is a pully that is holding it on towards the middle of the motor. I gave up because I was working on it for like 6 hours straight today by myself. I'm going to look up some pictures and what not tonight and continue work on it tommarow.

You have to take off the water pump pulley/ power steering pulley, there are 4 10mm bolts on the front of the pulley unfortunetely it is much easier to get the bolts off with the belts still on but it is manageable still. If you have a strap wrench (if not get one they are very useful) use that to hold the pulley while you take them off.

I already got the water pump pully off and the crank pully. I figured I have to take off the power steering pully but, I think I also have to get the a/c pully off too. I tihnk that is the pully that is holding the cover on.

Okay, so I have all the timing belt off finally. I can't get the no. 1 piston tdc. I believe the center two pistons are to be tdc but, my head is on. The info from VFAQ shows doing a timing belt job with the head on and using timing marks on the camshaft sprocket. Only problem is that I can not find the timing marks. I found a knotch on the back plate on the sprocket but, no where for it to line up at. I'm giving up for now untill advanced auto parts gets there shit together and orders a Hains manuel for me. (its been a week now and they still haven't gotten it in yet). A friend of mine has done 3 timing jobs on dsms already and I was told if I hook him up with a couple bucks he would probably help me. Right now I'm just depressed that my dsm is not running... still.

If I was you I would have your friend help you. Not necessarily do it for you, but show you what to do the right way so you dont' fuck up and cost yourself a head at the very least. I'd rather pay my buddy $20 for 2 hours and help me put my shit back together than spend $500 to get a head fixed. Just my :2cents:

Yeah I am probably getting my buddy to help me but, as for the head the head that I'm building is not the one on my car now. Tommarow my money goes through and I am getting a stock head off of these forums from a member to do all the work on. The thing that would suck is if didn't time it right and fucked up some pistons... the head is well expendable lol.

Yeah I am probably getting my buddy to help me but, as for the head the head that I'm building is not the one on my car now. Tommarow my money goes through and I am getting a stock head off of these forums from a member to do all the work on. The thing that would suck is if didn't time it right and fucked up some pistons... the head is well expendable lol.

You really have to try to wreck the pistons if you time it wrong. I've only seen 2 DSMs that wrecked pistons out of like the 15+ that I've heard of bending valves cause of timing. Just ask me or Thor. We've both replaced many sets of vales and not yet punched a hole in the piston.

haha well thats good to know.

wow, i was thinking of doing ARP's and an New Headgasket... but that just sounds like hell to me, would it be worth my time to just take it in to the shop? i've never messed with anything that has to do with timing, i have taken off a head before, but then a friend came to help put it back together... i have a hanes manual, think i could concure this beast on my own? or is it better for the car to hit the shop?

Well I am picking up my hanes manuel tonight. After I get that I'll let you know but, as of now I would say if you don't want to spend alot of time and dedication learning and breaking shit then get a shop to do it. Everyone says the hanes manual is a big help though so we will see. The head isn't the hard part. Replacing the headgasket and dealing with the head was actually fairly simple. The thing that sucks is the timing belt job you get conned into doing with the damn dohc. I'll let you know later tonight about the hardness of this job, as of now I'd say let the people who get paid to do it handle it.

The problem with taking it into shops is that most shops seem to fuck up our cars. I've heard countless stories about them not timing it right, it takes the motor with, and they won't do anything about it. And then the stealership charges you an arm and a leg. Your best bet is to find a knowledgable DSMer and give him a little cash to help you get it right the first time.

And the job seems alot more difficult than it really is. As long as you keep us update, there will always be someone willing to help with any questions or difficulties you have.

Yeah good point. Shops can and do mess up alot. GUESS WHAT!? YET AGAIN advanced auto fails again. They told me yesterday and this morning that my book would be there tonight. Guess what I went there and they told me to come back wed. night now. Yeah, I quietly walked outside before I spit in the guys face and contemplated burning down the store.

i have a hanes, but i'm just not sure, with the way our cars are set up, and with removing the head and all, is a timming lite still needed to do the timming belt? *can't belive i'm concedering actually doing this* but you guys are right, F*CK taking it to a shop, when i was REAR ENDED, i put the car into what i thought was a good shop, and ended up with 3 bolt stripped... ???on the FRONT bumper??? bracket... so screw that, if anyone is going to mess up my car, its ME!

Okay, well I finally got everything back together. I went to start the car and.... nothing. lol yeah. I figure I killed my battery over the past week or so while my car was sitting in the garage. My head lights come on real slow and when I hit my brakes my afc resets. The dash is all dim too. When I wake up in the morning I'm going to charge the battery and see if it starts up. BTW the haynes manuel really did help out alot.

Okay everything is ready to go except for my dead battery. Only thing that worries me is that I couldn't get a bolt back in the tensioner bracket for the ac belt. The ac belt is a little loose because of this. I tried for like 20 minutes to get the bolt back in but I couldn't. I know there is a chance of the belt coming off while driving so, could I just take the belt off completely? The belt only goes to the ac and the ac tensioner right? My friend is on his way over so I can start the car. Thanks.

is a timming lite still needed to do the timming belt?


No, just align the timing marks and you're good to go.

Alright guys I'm officialy puzzled here. I posted about my car sounding like a subaru and the #4 cylinder misfire. That turnt out to be a clogged injector. Anyway the car runs great but, when I'm beating on it for a good amount of time like a 2-4 pull the car will overheat slightly just like before. My compresion checks out, no oil in coolant or vise versa. I'm kinda pissed about doing all this then finding out it still overheats. I guess there is a posibility of the head being warped/cracked but, sometime this week I'm changing the oil, draining and replacing the coolant, and getting a new thermostat again. If none of this fixes the problem then I am going to have the coolant system flushed.