Head Gasket Job

I thought the car wasn't running very well... So I decided to do some investigative work. I looked at the expansion bottle and it was fuller than it should have been. There was an oily smell to the coolant and it looked like an oil emulsion. The heater hoses were empty, and the inside of the rocker cover rather gunked up. So my instant conclusion was: Head Gasket. This would be an expensive job for a garage to tackle, so I set it as a weekend target.

The alternator and distributor were removed and the head gasket bolts undone in the correct order. The head came off very easily but needed two people to lift it easily with the manifolds and water pump still attached. Above is a picture of the head removed.

The underside of the cylinder head was cleaned and polished before refitting.

The above picture shows the cylinder block before the old gasket was removed.

Tips I discovered/was told when doing the job:

• Once the cylinder head is off, on no account turn the engine over - this will disturb the cylinder liners and break the base seals. If you have to turn the engine over, fit a liner clamp.
• Take the bonnet off - this gives you much better access and you can reach forwards over the engine. Sometimes I found it useful to place a foot on the gearbox to help steady myself.

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