Parksy's gq

[Parksy]

Top of the head and also the two welsh plugs. No welds, woo!!




Anyone think these constricted gaskets are a probable cause to the tb42 head woes?

[Bloodyaussie]

This is where they crack...

[Parksy]

Thanks a million BA!! I looked at the old head and there is a lot of crap build up where you've marked. Will give it a clean and a good inspect. Very intrigued now.

[Bloodyaussie]

Mine had a big crack and it got welded up then while being tested the next one along cracked so the machinist welded the lot the re surfaced and tested again!!!

[Parksy]

Built up the new head. New head, new valves, new valve seals, all assembled. Intake is bolted onto the head and will muscle the entire unit onto the block tomorrow and torque it down. Not keen on bolting the intake while the head is in the car so hopefully this is a good move...

Also modified the head gasket to ensure all coolant passages are open. For what ever reason, some of the passages were correct, some were merely little holes and some were non existent. Also sprayed the head gasket with permatex copper spray. Hopefully this combination will minimise any hot spots and any future head cracking.





The above tool is what I used to compress the valve springs. While it did the job, there was lots of swearing involved, and I highly recommend an alternative.

[Bloodyaussie]

Good days hey.... did you have any of those "Why am I doing this" thoughts go through your mind!!!! he he!!

Looking forward to more updates mate.

[Parksy]

Hahaha those thoughts have been popping through my head a lot!! Good to know that I'm not alone in this.

[Alitis007]

Also modified the head gasket to ensure all coolant passages are open. For what ever reason, some of the passages were correct, some were merely little holes and some were non existent. Also sprayed the head gasket with permatex copper spray. Hopefully this combination will minimise any hot spots and any future head cracking.

Hey mate, the head gasket is cut like that so the water will circulate a certain way and by cutting out the holes it might affect how the water flows thru the motor to cool it down. Also the head gasket is made from a compound that releases itself to bond with the block and head when you tension the head down and that spray is normally used on layered steel or copper head gaskets so i'm not sure if it will effect how the head gasket seals.

[Parksy]

Thanks alitis. If only you were here yesterday...

[Parksy]

Managed to easily remove the copper spray form the head gasket. It's quite tacky and a layer of glad wrap easily removed it all. As for the cooling passages, time will tell what the outcome is. But from driving it today, the temps on the ecu talk are exactly the same as before, so long as coolant is moving through the engine, I'm happy.
Anyway, managed to man handle this into place somehow, torqued down to spec, and ran through the last torque step a couple of times.

Valve train installed and set to cold tappet adjustments (0.2mm).

And everything else back on

Dumped the oil, chucked some cheap stuff in to flush everything out, topped up the coolant, and first turn of the key and it fired right up. Very happy with the outcome.
Back to happy patrolling!