Woo! Head Gasket Boom Boom! Yeah!

[7MGTEsup]

I'm no pro when it comes to engine building, but I have been running an after market OEM style head gasket with new stock Toyota bolts (Torqued to 72 lbs/ft) for the last year at 15 psi and over 16,000 miles covered without any problems. Contrary to what people will tell you Toyota head bolts are NOT stretch bolts. Reg Reimer (sp) had some 7M head bolts tested years back and they came out pretty close to 2J head bolts in terms of shear strength and stretch.

 

[jdub]

If you are going to buy new Toyota head bolts, why not get ARP's? The studs are even better

A stock HG will go to 15 psi if torqued properly on a clean, straight block/head. Torque the stock head bolts to 75 ft/lbs...ARP hardware to the spec on the sheet. I would use a Toyota OEM HG...if you buy the kit for the head, it will have it included and the other gaskets, seals and O-rings you will need as well.

 

[badboysupra]

thanks for the input guys.

but I guess I will try the new factory Toyota head bolts and the Felpro HG and see for myself how well it will take the abuse.

and I got good hope for these parts since that that you cant go wrong on OEM Toyota parts, also with Felpro parts. plus its all about the right preparation on the head & block. doing the right torque sequence.


aite, peace.

 

[steven89]

hows your head gasket change going Knifeartist?

 

[stealth]

Good thread. Keep us updated. I start on mine soon.

 

[theKnifeArtist]

oh heh, yeah i stopped going to this thread because it seemed i was losing people when i was asking questions and stuff, but since the last 2 replies were uplifting i shall explain where i'm at.

well the head is off and i decided to take the valves out and i'm glad i did because those stem seals didnt look too good and this gave me a chance to throw the head in the hot tank in school and get it real clean. well it's mighty clean now and i got it resurfaced for 50 bucks. a lot better then the 170 this place by me was asking. one teacher of mine personally took the head to his friend who pretty much only does machine work and all that on race engine parts and he milled it for me .016" (reason for so much is that there was pitting close to combustion chamber and thats how much it took to get it done).

i got most of my gaskets and i bought a HG from toyota. but my major flaw in this job was not getting a headgasket KIT to begin with. i thought the only kits that existed were full engine kits so i decided to buy them individually after hearing the cost. BAD IDEA. so now i got like 5 gaskets left to get that i went to toyota for but they weren't giving me good service and also wanted 120 bucks for 4 of them(yeah they forgot one and i never called them back when they left me the message because i was furious that even though the forgot one, the price went up another 20 bucks). so anyway, i'm hoping to get help from you guys at the parts for sale section. i need: turbo to manifold, turbo oil return line(on turbo one), water inlet housing(inlet? the thing bolted on toward the front of the head, that one) EGR cooler gasket, and ISC gasket..might be 1 or 2 i still need, but i'll soon figure that out.

unfortunatly this is taking longer than expected, but i'm glad i'm taking care all these things, my damn gasket fuckup is just pissing me off. hopefully my apartment complex people wont screw me because i got my car sittin in a special spot they gave me and its been a while.

here are just 2 pictures. i like doing before and after pics of everything and these are the ones i did. while i have the car in a million pieces, every piece got special attention, was cleaned and some painted. the head pic is before i took the valves out and threw it in the hot tank, its just after i cleaned it in a parts washer. the turbo was cleaned up and painted, interally it looks to be in good shape.
thanks for reading, if you did.

 

[jdub]

Live and learn
The gasket kit is the way to go...and replacing the valve seals is a good decision too.

PM me your name/address and I'll mail you a new turbo to manifold gasket.

 

[jetjock]

He would've gotten the oil cap seal in the kit too

KA: Other than turbo to manifold you could make every one of those gaskets for pennies and if you bought the right material they'd be better than factory. I long ago tired of having jobs stalled for gaskets so I bought a gasket punch set and an assortment of gasket material. Since then I can't recall that last time I bought a gasket for my own use. Nor have I ever had a leak from rolling my own. It's simple once the techniques are learned. Something to think about for the future.

Also set the throttle body and TPS up while it's out of the car. Easier that way. I'm assuming you'll be setting valve lash when you put the head together.

 

[theKnifeArtist]

right, i am gonna adjust the tps prior to install. i want to set the valve lash and i've read americanjebus's writeup a bunch of time, but still i don't know if i could do it. i don't wanna mess up and have a big problem. maybe i'll ask a friend who's done it before to help..also, can you only get these shims at toyota?

 

[theKnifeArtist]

my friend said i should replace the spring in the wastegate before i reinstall it. is this a good practice? does the stock wastegate usually wear out? i did have some full boost issues before but i thought it was MBC related

 

[steven89]

im not gonna change the spring in my WG.. never really heard of it failing other than people breaking the arm..

Need more updates + pics!!

 

[theKnifeArtist]

i'll give an update in a bit, man i should of started a build thread before..
anyways..
should i put a little of assembly tube or moly lube on the valve stems when installing them into the guides?
and
is there a gasket between the cam position center housing thing and the head? it's like a triangular(?) shape with a hole in it
if so, anyone selling?

 

[IJ.]

Yes

 

[theKnifeArtist]

is that yes for the first one or the second one..or both?

 

[IJ.]

First one

A pic of the second one would help..

 

[jdub]

Second question...No, but you can make a gasket out of a gasket sheet. Toyota relies on the O-ring on the CPS shaft to effect the oil seal.

 

[jetjock]

What he said. There's no gasket stock but I install one on every car I deal with. If you use a thin material you can get away with a round one. Any thicker and you'll stress the CPS clamp casting. Best to cut a gasket the same outline. That's what I do. Use a new O ring with it and leaks will be a thing of the past.

 

[theKnifeArtist]

okay another question. i'm using a toyota oem HG. does that go on dry?, just clean all the surfaces and the gasket with alcohol?
also, how many gallons of coolant will i need? im goin to toyota tommorrow. im gonna run straight water on initial startup and run it for a couple minutes and flush it.
i'm not gonna say the head is goin on this weekend because i've said that for the past 4 weeks, but i'm gonna make an attempt to get it done.

 

[JustAnotherVictim]

OEM goes in with nothing on it.
Just make sure you fipg those spots on the block.

 

[jdub]

Yep...you're gonna hear me say it: I would use copper spray on an OEM HG

It will fill the imperfections on the block/HG itself. But, like JAV said, putting it on dry is just as correct. If you use the spray, wait until it's tacky. You get one chance to lay the HG down correctly on the index pins and one chance to put the head down on top of it.