Ok sadly the ta died yesterday (well she is not driveable).....Blowing smoke and water out of her exhuast i realize the head gasket needs replacing.....can this be done at home ??/...i guess i what i wanna know is does the engine have to come out????....anything else would be great info ...i have been quoted 3000 and up to fix her so time to save money.....My father is great at fixing cars but due to severe gout he no longer can ...so any info on this would be great gotta save the TA

 

Engine doesn't have to come out, but I'm not gonna lie to ya, it ain't an easy first project to tackle.

You'll have to unbolt most of the passenger side accessories to start with. The unbolt the accessory bracket from the side and let it lay forward (you dont have to discharge the a/c, leave the compressor sitting of to one side).

Pull the intake off, remove your exhaust manifold/headers, whichever, all necessary connections to get those parts off.

There's a coolant crossover tube on the back of the heads that's easier to remove ifyou just take both heads off at once w/ the crossover attached, so it's best to have an extra hand to do it.

Once everything is off you need to thoroughly clean the deck surface and have the heads checked out to make sure they are still flat and do not need resurfacing. If it blew a head gasket due to overheating, etc, it may have warped the head some. Do not use those 3M abrasive pads to clean the deck surface, stick to razor blades and a rag w/ some brake cleaner.

 

Javier stated the process very well the rear coolant crossover can be a pita and the 4 seals are $6.50 each from Chevrolet. (I tried the other local shops no one had them) However, pulling the heads can be done in the car and its not that hard just time consuming.

Good luck

Mike

 

me and a friend did it 2 weeks ago... sucks.

make sure to get both heads off at once is all i can say....

 

I don't think trying to pull both heads off at the same time with the steam tube attached is a good idea at all. Just take your time and reach around back with a short wrench and the coolant tube bolts will come off - I've done it that way about 4-5 times and it's no big deal. Also, I unbolted the accessory bracket from the head, but otherwise left it in place. You have to drop the exhaust to get at the last row of headbolts - and you might consider replacing the headbolts anyway - I'm not sure if TTY headbolts started until '96, but get some good ARPs and torque them with the right lube and you're set. Got to have clean gasket surfaces on these type engines so spend some time there.

 

That's what I said...

And why would it not be a good idea to remove the heads together? I did it with no problems whatsoever, it's also the best way to put them back on.

Putting it on by itself later is a great way to crossthread the bolt into the back of the head. If that coolant line isn't sitting right or bent at a funny angle you can't see, it's going in sideways, and you'd never know.... until it was too late

 

No, here's what you said dude. And taking off both heads witht he coolant tube attached is a dumb idea. That's a lot more difficult than just not crossthreading a bolt.

 

eh, we're mincing words over a two bolt difference.. n/m on the bracket thing...

htf is it difficult if you have two people? we got the heads out in 10 seconds once they were unbolted and popped off....

If after removing the crossover tube it gets moved from its natural position in anyway (very easy for this to happen), the flat part that sits against the head will sit at a slight angle. If one isn't careful it will force the bolt to not go in straight.

If there's only one person, then yes, go ahead and remove the crossover pipe.

 

first thanks for all the posts ..very kind....the car was towed to Honda there is a tech there that is one of the best around and i work for the wilde auto group so i get a discount on labor....I am going to be buying the parts so whats best stock or is there something better out there ???...again any advice would be great

 

removing both heads at once i'd be worried of kinking the crossover
and my simple solution to avoid crossthreading, thread it in by hand first

thats alot easier said than done, especially with a 3rd gen, but my point is, u cant cross thread the bolts when u tighten it up by hand, if it gets hard, back it out and try again

 

Hmmm.....depends on how much you want to spend.

On the high end of the expenditures, you could have your heads ported and fitted with new valve springs, retainers, the works - and throw a nice cam in there too since it's apart anyway.

Or, there is nothing wrong with replacing what needs to be replaced with stock replacement stuff. One thing I STRONGLY recommend is ARP head bolts. They're WAY better than stock, you can reuse them, and they're only like $50.

Again, it depends on what your budget is. HTH.

 

blah, i didn't kink mine, damage mine, drop mine.. or anything crazy...

It's the easiest/quickest way to get the heads back on w/o having to bust your knuckles under the cowl later trying to thread those bolts back in.

If you're staying stock go with some ARP head bolts and a set of stock GM gaskets.