Nova 1.6 GSi - head gasket - any pointers

[boardmonkey]

Hi,

Have been advised by local garage that the lack of power is down to a leaky head gasket..

Anyone got any pointers / tips / suggestions to get this done. Any specialized tools required ?

Just want to plan it all out, get all the parts reqd so I can get it done in one weekend...

Cheers, Richard

[comptoncj]

Urm well just a bit of mechanical knowlidge required, drain the water out, no special tools required fairly straight forward job :)

[boardmonkey]

Urm well just a bit of mechanical knowlidge required, drain the water out, no special tools required fairly straight forward job :)

Ive rebuilt my VW Camper engine, so im ok around the engine...are there any other jobs that are worth doing whilst changing the head gasket ? Do the head bolts require a specialised tool to remove ?

:thumb:

[Iain]

On the 8v engines the headbolts are visible so you can see what you'll need to remove them.

[mowgli]

just get a full head set, some good gasket compound, new head bolts, a new thermostat, timing belt & water pump, and an oil filter & some oil..

the list may look excessive, but whilst you are stripping the engine down you may as well sort all of the other bits, and you will have a lot of trouble free miles ahead of you

[Guderian]

pay special attention to cleaning gasket remnants from the head before refitting it, and get it as smooth as possible. More often than not you can get away without having to get the head skimmed however. Look for corrosion near the water jackets, especially the exhaust side of Number one cylinder. (the hottest area)

Slightly tricky cleaning head up as the gasket scraps which tend to stick to the aluminium are tougher than the metal! Judicious tapping/scraping with blunt screwdriver usually does the trick, lifted off by 30 degrees or so to avoid gouging the metal. But you have done this before anyway no doubt.. so should be fine!

Vauxhall is a last resort for the gasket sets as far as i am concerned, as they mark them up by a greedy amount.

[jimbob-mcgrew]

youll probably need a female torx socket putting the new head bolts back in

[mowgli]

make a gasket scraper from an old piece of 22mm copper pipe with the end flattened like a chisel point. the copper is soft than the ally, so it won't damage it

[Steve0011]

if you go for a head kit then its worth doing the valve seals (as there in the kit) but you will need a valve spring tool for this, while your at it, regrind the valve seats. my god the list of things you COULD do while the head is off, is, well, allmost endless :d dont forget to decarbon the tops of the pistons and a good oil change would'nt go a miss ;) you will also need to buy/borrow a touque wrench..................

s

[stuartyj21]

also get a new set of headbolts as the old ones will have stretched slightly, only cost about £15

[novaguy08]

if you go for a head kit then its worth doing the valve seals (as there in the kit) but you will need a valve spring tool for this, while your at it, regrind the valve seats. my god the list of things you COULD do while the head is off, is, well, allmost endless :d dont forget to decarbon the tops of the pistons and a good oil change would'nt go a miss ;) you will also need to buy/borrow a touque wrench..................

s

Wire wool is good for this apparently, just not rubbed too hard & dont use brillo lol