Is new head gasket a must?

[scruffboy]

I have an 89 Supra non-turbo with 125,000 miles on it. The engine runs great. I've had no problems. I see a lot of people recommend changing the hg. Why? This seems like a rather expensive endeavor if you are not having major engine trouble. Isn't the hg rather hard to get to? Whats involved? How about valve cover gaskets? Are there two seperate gaskets or is it one large one? Can this be done by a weekend warrior? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

James

[SupraMan1784]

scruffboy, if you plan to drive your car hard or for a long time, the headgasket is a good investment to put some money into, the factory gaskets are pieces of s**t, trust us on that, it would be a good idea to replace it, its not that hard, but you will need to torque the bolts to the correct amount, i think its somwhere on this forum ive seen it a bunch of times but i dont remember it off the top of my head, you basically need the new gasket and a torque wrench, or any kind of wrench, and this could be easily done in a day...well half a day i say

[monkihead]

on a non-turbo, i dont think its as necessary. its a long and fun job(sarcasm) that everyone should enjoy with 100 degree weather.

[suprra_girl]

the reason the hg is a must is because.........

from the factory toyota neglected to torque the headbolts to the correct value
so they only torqued to 58ft lbs where they actually need 72ft lbs

depending on power output you want you can stay with the stock hg or upgrade to a metal head gasket
if you just wanna do the 12psi, exhaust, intake thing you should be fine (on a new hg)
for high boost/power applications a mhg is recommended (hks or cometic)

basically... the original torque setting is the failure on the 7m (it's a very capable motor)

7mges also blow hg's... just take a little longer hehe

[lethalwithasupra]

what appeared to be a metal head gasket ( a thick metal gasket between two thin gaskets, held together by 4 rivets ) came out of my supra. mostly it was the corrosion and overheating, but one of the thin layers was cracked between bores 5 & 6. 3 & 4 loooked like they were just about ta go thru as well. is a mhg really the end-all ?

understanding that my car is about as well taken care of as you'd expect ...

[suprra_girl]

have you put it back together yet?

can you take pics of the block and head surfaces (clean preferably)