head gasket change

[wayne]

 
new to the club and just in procession of a pretty nifty F reg 126Bis but.......I think the head gasket is in need of replacement, she gets mighty hot under the collar when driven but is usually OK purring on tick over, replaced all the hoses, thermostat and coolant bled her dry and filled her up made sure all the air was out but same again in fact she blew the interior heater hose twice and soaked me in the process
I know you guys are the dogs dangly bits on all things Bis..so question is can the head gasket on a water cooled version be changed without having to drop the engine out?

[Pete126]

Yes you can do the head gasket without dropping the engine.

1.   Drain the water and oil
2.   Disconnect the battery
3.   Remove the air filter on the back panel and carb
4.   Disconnect all the pipes and cables connected to the carb
5.   Remove the carb (4 nuts)
6.   Remove the inlet manifold (4 bolts)
7.   Remove the Exhaust and brackets
8.   Remove the 2 rocker cover nuts
9.   Remove the rocker shaft (2 nuts)
10.   Remove the 8 domed nuts (2 are in the inlet manifold inlets) + 3 bolts at the bottom
11.   Rotate the engine and that should break the seal between the head and block
12.   slide the head off
13.   Check head, skim if not flat
14.   Clean all surfaces
15.   Re-assemble

[wayne]

 
many thanks for the update on the head change

might be thinking of selling soon if anyone out there thinks they might be interested give me a shout

Wayne

[scotty]

I was going to ask the same thing untill a search turned up this post
Is it as simple as it sounds?

Think I need to do mine after a coolant leak and getting hot.

BTW. How do you tell if the head is warped?

[Gadge]

The best way I found was to turn the upside down and place an engineering square on it and shine a torch on the other side. If you can see light in the middle then it's bent. However if it has cooked its head gasket then the chances are that it has

[Pete126]

As Gadge said or use a steel rule, i used to p_ss about with grinding paste and a flat piece of glass but after learning the hard way over the the years (doing the job twice) I don't mess about now, if the head gaskets gone I get the head skimmed a coupe of years ago it was about 30 quid,Once its done its one less thing to worry about

[Desmos21]

Just finished mine today, only took 3 hours start to finish but I did soak everything overnight.
It's also worth popping out the pushrods and marking there location, also re do the tappets gap after re torquing the head.
Got to be one of the easiest heads to remove.

[scotty]

^^^ Music to my ears. ^^^

Never done one before as old V-dubs (which I'm used to) don't even have one.

It seriously needs doing now as it's made a rad hose leak, using more water than Ivor The Engine and I'm noticing a drop in power but I need to use it as it's my daily drive.

Going to order a copper one I think.

Anyone know the torque for the head bolts?

[scotty]

Well, I took the plunge and removed my cylinder head after my new one arrived from Ricambio.

I've never done one before and used Pete126's instructions which were a God send.
Found a pinhole in the bottom hose as well.

I just have a couple of questions if anyone knows the answer.

Anyone know what the torque is for the head bolts and do you think I need to re-set the valve clearances?
Do I use any kind of jointing compound or put the new one right on after cleaning?

Oh lastly, you thing I'll be all-right putting the old gasket back on or d'ya think it's a bit past it? LOL!

[Rusty's Uncle]

Plenty of life in that gasket , come on it has only been used once 
Bought a brand new Bis in '89 and it blew the head gasket after about 2 years. No manuals or help available at that time so just went for it. I obviously got it a little wrong as a good amount of coolant must have got into the engine where it should not have been. Started the engine when it was all back together and within about 2 mins it started pumping steam out of the exhaust 
I let it run for about 30 mins during which time it produced enough steam to blot out the sun for most of my neighbors then it went clear and all was OK as was the engine 

[scotty]

HA-HA! That's an awesome story! 
There's hope for me yet.
You may have unexpectedly stumbled on the first water powered car.

Is it me or does anyone else think that Bis head gaskets look a bit like robot monkeys?

[andyzeetec]

HA-HA! That's an awesome story! 
There's hope for me yet.
You may have unexpectedly stumbled on the first water powered car.

Is it me or does anyone else think that Bis head gaskets look a bit like robot monkeys?

yea, Robot Monkey with a mic 

Is it worth doing any other work while the head is off, valve guide oil seals or reseating the valves with paste 

[scotty]

I'm going to look at doing that Andy while it's off.

I got a few bits in the head gasket kit from Ricambio so I'm going to try and see where they all go.