got the valve covers off....

[supraman7mgte]

any suggestionsas to what else i should do while i'm here?

retourque the head? the previous owner had some new valve seats put in before i bought it 2 years ago,and i see what might be arp bolts in there.is there any way to tell if they are? do they have stamps in them? how many are there?


question two,check the valve clearances?

 

[jdub]

Yep. Re-torque if it's never been done and check valve clearances per the TRSM..it's a pain...just did it a few days ago. Can't help ya with ARP bolt ID...got studs here.

You might want to check the torque on the cam caps and take a look at your plugs for correct gap.

 

[aye mate]

ARP bolts are a 12point 13mm head. The stock bolts are 10mm allen heads.

 

[supraman7mgte]

i want to do as much as i can while i'm here.
being as i want to upgrade to arp,could i just pull out the existing and put in new without disturbing the headgasket?
newbie questions,i know.

 

[jdub]

Do that and you unload the head...you'll have to replace the HG if you do.

 

[supra90turbo]

Is that true, jdub? I kind of figured that you could one by one, remove and replace a bolt....

 

[jdub]

He might be able to get away with it, but I do know it will unload the head in the area where you pull the bolt. Depending on the condition of the HG (especially a stock one), it could induce a failure. The only way to find out would be to do it :naughty:

IJ has a lot of knowledge on this...maybe he will chime in.

 

[supra90turbo]

I don't think that it'll cause enough of a disturbance to cause a failure, provided that you go in the correct order, and don't wait 2 hours to retighten them.

Because, to properly retorque, you crack the head stud/bolt loose and torque back down.

This is the same basic idea. I would say go for it, and see what happens also! Of course, not my Supra, not my money lol

 

[jdub]

I'm with ya man

The only difference between a replacement and a re-torque is you don't completely remove the pressure exerted by the bolts on a re-torque. You crack the bolt just enough to get an accurate reading on the torque down.

 

[7MsuprO]

I'll probably be trying the one bolt at a time trick. We'll see what happens.

 

[supra90turbo]

lol didn't even notice question number 2, supraman7mgte...
If you've got the time, absolutely check the valve (shim) clearances. Can't hurt one bit, and it'll save you from taking it all back apart again down the road if one is slightly loose and starts making noise.

 

[supraman7mgte]

well,i checked the head bolts,they are allright,valve clearances are right,but the number 6 spark plug had oilonit,i'm thinking that the valve cover leak might have caused the saturation.
other than that,valve covers are COOL! too bad i can only see about 50% of the polish!!! lol

 

[supra90turbo]

I'm sure it was just from valve cover gaskets leaking into the spark plug galley and drooling down the plug when you removed it.. Sop it up with a rag and go on about your business.
Did you get new spark plugs? now is also the time for that.... unless yours are new.

 

[supraman7mgte]

i replaced them about 3 months ago,still set at proper gap (imagine that)
and it started up with no hesitation! hoo-ray for my side!