Thabulldog Posted April 6, 2003 Report Share Posted April 6, 2003 Hey guys. the Zoomina blew a head gasket yesterday . I won't get rid of it no matter what so:what should I do. Get the head gaskets replaced for 750 bucks or try to find a low mileage engine such as a 3.1 or 3.4 for around the same price. I don't think it's going to be that easy. What do you think? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted April 6, 2003 Report Share Posted April 6, 2003 If I were you, I would change the gasket myself. But, I dont know. I dont think finding a good, low miles replacement is going to be easy. Robby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross442 Posted April 6, 2003 Report Share Posted April 6, 2003 If you do some work yourself you could learn a bunch and save a bunch. As far as gaskets or good used motor you should do gaskets probably. These engines have many common gasket and seal leaks that will all be new on yours again. While your engine is apart you have the option of just cleaning up the heads and installing the new gaskets. Or you can have a machine shop recondition the heads. Usually if the heads are good and it's just the gasket(s) I leave the heads alone Except I have the shop shave a little off like 10 to 30 thousandsths of an inch. This bumps up your compression about a half a point and is a noticable bump in power. If you tear it down yourself, have a shop check out the heads, clean them, and shave them 15 thousandths you could do it all for a few hundred bucks for everything. you'd probably just need to buy a torque wrench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSayDie Posted April 6, 2003 Report Share Posted April 6, 2003 Craftsman torque wrench:$20 gaskets: $200 feeling you get when it fires off first time after you did it yourself:priceless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted April 6, 2003 Report Share Posted April 6, 2003 Craftsman torque wrench:$20 gaskets: $200 feeling you get when it fires off first time after you did it yourself:priceless Well put!! Robby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 6, 2003 Report Share Posted April 6, 2003 It's not really that hard to do head gaskets yourself. I did the ones in my '94 Cutlass. It was a good learning experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thabulldog Posted April 6, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2003 Doing the head gaskets myself is out of the question. First, I would be too nervous about messing something up and second I don't have a covered area to work, it would have to be out on the street. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rglguy Posted April 6, 2003 Report Share Posted April 6, 2003 you dont needa covered place to do it, just make sure your doing it and its not gonna rain, head gaskets are easy, get a manual for your carr, follow it step by step, its easy, then again i hgave mechanic experiece, hell i got bored one day so i took apart the upper parts of my engine just to paint it, was fun and interesting, you could change the o ring on oil pump drive too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted April 7, 2003 Report Share Posted April 7, 2003 yeah and the O2 sensor while your at it, they seem to go out around 90K or 100K miles Robby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSayDie Posted April 7, 2003 Report Share Posted April 7, 2003 I try to never ever ever take my car to have it fixed. Most of the guys at shops around here talk to me like I am stupid or something. Hayne's manuals are beautiful things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted April 7, 2003 Report Share Posted April 7, 2003 I changed my head gaskets on the street! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thabulldog Posted April 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2003 Ok, so if I was to do it myself, how would I go about it. What would I need to do and buy to get it all done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted April 7, 2003 Report Share Posted April 7, 2003 you would need to replace ALL the gasket you take off on gettin down to head gasket. Thats the three upper intake gaskets, lower intake gaskets, you can prolly get to your timing cover gasket and change that, mine is leaking thats why I say that. You really arent gonna need to replace anything, except the gaskets. Robby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no1kicker Posted April 7, 2003 Report Share Posted April 7, 2003 how about get a low mileage replacement motor, change its gaskets, and then put it in your car. best of both worlds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thabulldog Posted April 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2003 Is it easy to mess things up if i do the gasket myself? How long should it take me considering I'll b nervous about messing things up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted April 7, 2003 Report Share Posted April 7, 2003 Not really. Cuz your not going to take off rocker arms and stuff like that. I mean, both intakes come right off, and both heads will come right off. You might be able to leave the lifters in too. Rods would have to come out. But, most of the stuff is going to stay together, TB will, just take it off and disconnect vacuum lines. Should take a decent amout of time. Maybe a weekend or so. Start early on Sat, finish late Sunday, I would think, if you work all day Robby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian P Posted April 7, 2003 Report Share Posted April 7, 2003 If you do some work yourself you could learn a bunch and save a bunch.As far as gaskets or good used motor you should do gaskets probably. These engines have many common gasket and seal leaks that will all be new on yours again. While your engine is apart you have the option of just cleaning up the heads and installing the new gaskets. Or you can have a machine shop recondition the heads. Usually if the heads are good and it's just the gasket(s) I leave the heads alone Except I have the shop shave a little off like 10 to 30 thousandsths of an inch. This bumps up your compression about a half a point and is a noticable bump in power. If you tear it down yourself, have a shop check out the heads, clean them, and shave them 15 thousandths you could do it all for a few hundred bucks for everything. you'd probably just need to buy a torque wrench. How much is usually charged for JUST shaving the heads? Just curious. Also in response to the original question- It isn't too difficult to do the job, if you've ever changed the intake gaskets, it's another few steps from there. You need to remove the downpipe or the rear exhaust manifold. I'd personally remove the exh manifold so you won't disturb the gasket between the exh manifold and downpipe. The front of the car- you have to remove and set aside the AC compressor (easy), then remove the engine bracket on that same side (can be difficult if the bolts are rusted) then make sure you have new head bolts. Gaskets are cheap, under $50 on ebay. Might as well get intake gaskets if you've never done them before. Torque every bolt to spec and you'll be all set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 7, 2003 Report Share Posted April 7, 2003 I got the heads for my '94 3100 done for $50 + tax. Pretty good price considering there was a valve not seating and the guy fixed it without charging extra. The $50 includes pressure testing to check for cracks and resurfacing. He also did a vacuum test on each valve to make sure they were seating properly. That's how he found the bent valve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 7, 2003 Report Share Posted April 7, 2003 Is it easy to mess things up if i do the gasket myself? When I did the head gaskets on my '94 Cutlass I labeled everything. As soon as I took it off I wrapped it with masking tape and labeled it. If you do that you have almost no chance of screwing up. Also make sure the head bolts are tourqed properly and in the correct order. It's recommended that the old head bolts be taken out in the opposite pattern that the new ones are installed in. Turn them each half a turn at a time until they are all loose. I did the same thing on the lower intake also. The upper intake bolts were already loose but do it to those also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thabulldog Posted April 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2003 How can I find a shop that will do a good job like that on machining the heads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 8, 2003 Report Share Posted April 8, 2003 Do some calling around. Ask for prices and what all it includes. Or find a shop that does it and go there to ask questions. Then you can see what kind of people you are dealing with and maybe see a bit of their work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thabulldog Posted April 8, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2003 The problem is, I live in NYC. There aren't many shops around here with people that do good work, let alone speak english. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted April 8, 2003 Report Share Posted April 8, 2003 I got the heads for my '94 3100 done for $50 + tax. Pretty good price considering there was a valve not seating and the guy fixed it without charging extra. The $50 includes pressure testing to check for cracks and resurfacing. He also did a vacuum test on each valve to make sure they were seating properly. That's how he found the bent valve. How much did you shave off? And, how much higher compression do you think you got out of it? Robby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 8, 2003 Report Share Posted April 8, 2003 How much did you shave off? And, how much higher compression do you think you got out of it? Robby He shaved maybe .010. Just enough to make sure they were flat and true. It probably didn't do a whole lot for my compression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted April 8, 2003 Report Share Posted April 8, 2003 thanks, I heard shaving like 30-40 thousandths will boost compression by like .5 Robby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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