Newby Engine question, laughing optional

[nutzforporsche]

Question for the gang,..no laughing please,..oh what the heck ,..laugh....

I would like to clean up my engine a little while I have it out
(car on the way to repaint)

I want to pull off the heads, inspect and then clean the gunk off and maybe hone the cylinders a little.

The question is if I pull the heads off will I have to buy new gaskets? Or is this going to cause me a headache?

Direction on this little project most appreciated!!!!

Thanks All !
Steve

[BenI]

You can pull the heads no problem. While you're at it, remove the gaskets-they are a problem waiting to happen. The stock gaskets are three layers of aluminum pressed together and are prone to leak. I've pulled heads, removed these gaskets ,and reassembled with no problems. If you really want to do it right, you can lap the cylinders to the head, but if I were you I wouldn't worry about this step. Good luck!

[nutzforporsche]

Darn that was fast! I'm a blessed soul!


Lapping the cyls to the head is this a major? Not that it matters, just want to do it right the first time LOL

Sometimes I'm like a baby gorilla, what I don't tearup
I poop on it.

I don't want this to turn into one of those "sometimes" LOL


Thank you!

[BenI]

I think you go to the auto store and get some valve lapping compound. You will need to pull the cylinders off the engine-easy to do. Then spread some lapping compound on the head and put the corresponding cylinder into the head and rotate back and forth. this will mate the surfaces together. You will then need to compress the piston rings, slide the cylinder back on, and remember to include any cylinder shims that may be present. You need to seal the cylinder to the case with some high-temp gasket former or sealant. Then just bolt the head back on. Not terrible, but may not be worth it. i plan to lap my cylinders in to my fresh full rebuild. Before this engine needed rebuilding though I removed the head gaskets and did not lap the cylinders in-I had not leakage for 20k miles-the engine self-destructed before the heads ever leaked.

[nutzforporsche]

Hummm interesting,
Sounds like a easy thing to do. I think I'll go ahead lap them in. I'm not too shabby at hand lapping valves maybe I can do this without a problem. That of course is yet to be seen LOL

[Zeke]

There may be no shims at the base, only a paper gasket. In which case I would add shims equal to the missing head gasket. By not doing so, you are raising the compression, which is not necessarily a bad thing. But don't use paper gaskets at the base, use some kind of shim.

Lap the cyls and if they don't show a shinny even surface all the way around, have the heads resurfaced. It also helps to dress up the top of the cyl by sanding on fine grit wet or dry on a piece of plate glass as a true surface. When you send your heads and cyls out for rebuilding and boring, this is all done for you and you can bolt them back together w/o fear that they will leak. Some even lap them in then.

[nutzforporsche]

Thank you all for the help. I feel more comfortable doing this now. I realize this is not a Chevy BB and my knowledge doesn't apply.
Thanks for all the tips! I'm printing this guide LOL

Best Regards!