Just removed my head...

[burn_your_money]

So I just pulled my head and I've never done this before. I just want to post some pictures to make sure everything looks normal





I'd imagine this picture shows that I need a 3 notch HG correct?



Be careful when using gasket sealer, it ends up in the best places :roll:



And what's the best thing to use to clean the block/head. Is brake cleaner acceptable? I was going to go out and buy a little plastic scrapper, and maybe make a wood one at work. Any other thoughts?

[larry104]

I used Permatex gasket remover and Scotchbrites. It took a couple hours, but it worked great.

[bryanbryan89x]

I just changed my head gasket, and I used scotch brite extra fine rotary pads (blue ones) with a 90 degree die grinder.  They worked excellent.



http://vwdiesel.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=406&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=scotch+brite&start=105

[scroll down to bottom]

[burn_your_money]

Thanks for all the info so far everyone

I went out to Canadian Tire and came back with the following stuff



razor scrapper (for the block), plastic putty knife (for head) gasket remover (is this safe for my vavle seals/piston rings?) and synthetic steel wool equivilant to #000 steel wool.

Am I good to go?

[hoyt]

Be carefull with that gasket remover.  It will desolve just about
anything.  I used and it would turn my nitrile gloves to goo in about
ten minutes.

--John

[macsdub]

gasket remover
good stuff for removing carbon

best thing to clean the block is a wire wheel in a drill or a air powered right angle grinder
wire wheels will remove no metal(cast iron)unlike abrasives
dont worry about stains on the cast iron,get off any material+bumps though

a good thing to clean the head surface is a palm sander with 600-1000 grit paper
and use brakecleen,or wd-40 to wet the head+paper,,keep it wet too
then palm sand it in little figure 8 motions

that is basically what we used in the engine rebuild shop i worked in if say a cust. came in w/a blown head gasket+we did it in-frame

yea you need a 3 notch HG
but it would be better to measure
i had a car once where i measured it,and i was able to use a 2 notch gasket,which thank god was the one sitting there on sunday afternoon
and i did pull out a 3 notch from that car

where did you get metal shifter joints like  in that top pic???

[burn_your_money]

I'd love to measure the piston's to see what HG I really need but I don't think I have the tools to do that.

You used an electic palm sander with WD-40?

I bought those stupid shifter pieces used. I absolutly hate them because they are on threaded shafts allowing infinite adjustment possibilites. I'm sure if I had taken the time and done it right the first time when I got rid of the stock pieces I' like them more. You can buy them here

In regards to that gasket remover disolving anything, will it kill my seals/rings?

[RabbitJockey]

get a bigger down pipe asap haha

[burn_your_money]

get a bigger down pipe asap haha

Maybe on my next car. This one is going up for sale soon enough

[HarryMann]

http://wiki.80-90.co.uk/index.php/General_Engineering_Scrapers

The bottom one is what you need to clean up head and block surface (or almost anything in fact, an indipensible tool), proper engineering tools. A flat scraper needs to be used carefully, but that's just technique like any engineering tool. Control at the right angle and keep dead flat to surface with one hand an push with the other. If the edges dig in, it's either ground incorrectly (new ones are usually perfect, but practice on thick steel bar/plate) or using it wrong.

I spray glue 80 and 120 grit paper/cloth to dead flat steel or ally plates, brass is Ok for small plates a few inches square (exhaust manifolds in situ) but plate glass is about the flattest (not a normal glass window pane, but plate glass) with valve cutting compund.

I also rarely use circular or spirallic motion when flatting off surfaces such as manifold faces, heads etc. Its too easy to rock and lose flatness, hands do not work accurately in circles, IMHO. Linear strokes and then go 90 or 45 degrees to it, repeat. This is also how body shop painters flat off surfaces, they don't do circles, and most toolmakers, they work straight lines but then oppose them at another angle...

More than you wanted to know on DIY surfacing!

[macsdub]

yea scrape carefully with a razor blade as best as you can,then palm sand it with lots of lube too use a wet sandpaper,like 600 to 1000 grit

you would be horrified if i told you how fine a grit of paper i used on my tdi-m build

i didnt explain the sanding technique good enough
its a variation on what harrymann said
its big swipes back+forth,but is sorta a figure 8 at the same time,just oblong,never mind!!!!

as far as disolving seals,just dont spray it down the ports,no need to,just blow them out with some brakecleen+a shot of compressed air,or let gravity do its thing if you dont have air

i like brakecleen  alot cause it leaves basically no residue and i have about 93 cans leftover from my old job:)
carb cleaner is ok,it cuts carbony crap better but it leaves residue unless you wash again with blakecleen

that head looks pretty good,so does the block/pistons/etc

you can measure the protrusion with a cheap little metal ruler as a straight edge,and use feelr blades to check the gap from the piston to the block
its ok if you dont check it though
just slap a 3 notch in it
its just some places throw  3 notches in everything"for insurance",and thats what happened to me



aah ok you bought the kit(shifter)
i wanna make one


lol my dad  just walked in and told me as he read this he that what they do at the airport with leftover epoxy and polyester is:
they make a little rectangular mold from a few paint sticks and some aluminum foil tape
pour in the resin,and voila(hours later)
take it to the belt sander and you have a nice no scratch scraper made from epoxy resin,or polyester resin :wink:


lol i remember some redneck tellin me that he took an air powered file to a cyl head for some lil 4 cyl+it worked :shock:



dude you could even hack off the toilet bowl pipe,and install larger pipe right on there thats what i did on the toilet bowl on my old truck,i had a 2.25 inch dp on it(it was NA,but same setup)based on the orig bowl