Blown Head Gasket repair w/pics

[IHateHacks]

And Marc, there's more to machine work than just shaving the sealing surface. You must check it for cracks and not just ones you can see on the sealing surface, ones that could be inside the head where you can't see, like in the water jacket area. I don't know how they do it but a machine shop has special equipment to check for these cracks. You must also check the head for warpage. Remember, if a head is warped on the sealing surface, it's also warped throughout the entire head all the way up to the cam cover surface. You also have to clean the head. A machine shop uses special equipment that uses ultrasonic waves to clean the head. And the shop I used set my valve lash with brand new shims. Along with welding and re-threading my exhaust manifold stud holes, $200 was really not that bad. Trust me, its worth every penny sending the head to a machine shop.

One last word of advice I have for you, when you loosen the head bolts, of course do it in the proper order per TSRM but remember to loosen them in 3 increments. Don't just take one out then move to the next one and take that one out. Crack the first one loose then move to the next, then when you just barely cracked all 14 loose, go back and loosen them some more, but don't fully loosen them until you've done all 14 3 times. I know its confusing but its because you can crack your head if you don't relieve the pressure (that the head bolts are exerting) evenly.

[marc]

whered u get that gasket set..if u could get me the link id owe u big time.

[marc]

whats the difference between the turbo cylinder head, and the n/a cylinder head?

[marc]

well i mean can the n/a head fit onto the 7mgte or do they use a different head?

[IHateHacks]

I bought my gasket set from the machine shop that did the work for my head.

If you strip everything off of a N/A cylinder head it is the same exact thing as a turbo head. It's what bolts to the head that makes the difference, like the intake chamber, distributor and cam covers. The cams are the same, the valves are the same, the valve clearances are the same. Only thing different between the turbo and N/A cylinder head are the warpage limits.

[marc]

but im asking can i use an n/a cylinder head for my turbo car. i found a refursbished head, machined and checked already, but its from a n/a. comes with cams and everything all assembled. so i was wonderign if i baught it, would it be able to fit on. or wuld i need ot modify it.

[marc]

any1? any idea?

[IHateHacks]

I just told you the answer in my last post. Slow down and read it. It says that a GTE head is the same as the GE head when stripped down to nothing. You need a GTE cam sensor, intake chamber (the part the throttle body bolts to) and GTE cam covers.

Now that I'm thinking about it I wouldn't doubt that some of the bracket mounting stud holes for the throttle linkage, the pvc pipe or the turbo stay (that attach to the side of the head) are not in a GE head, so I don't know. I would say why hack it, just use a GTE head and SHIP IT.

[IHateHacks]

Now that marc hijacked this thread, I'm bringing it back on track.

For anyone who wants to know, you MUST use a 1/2" 12 point shallow socket for 7MGTE ARP head bolts. 14mm 6 point fits but will round/strip the head of the bolt. 13mm 12 point fits but again will strip the head of the bolt. So a shallow 1/2" 12 point 3/8" drive socket is what must be used with ARP head bolts to clear the lifter bores and cams and to properly grab the bolt.

Will have pics of the install soon.

[marc]

my bad on that 1 too didnt mean to jack it lol