I was lucky. The guilty gasket was on the drivers side. The easy side. (Did I say easy??)

Now that the head is removed, what is the best method of removing the contaminated oil & water? I drained the pan, used a wet-dry shop vac and sucked out what I could. Is there a special elixer I should flush through? Some old timey trick maybe.

The engine only has 91K miles. The block and head check out fine. I bought the car needing the gasket. I don't know the circumstances that caused the failure.

Any help appreciated!

 

I am trying to find something to do the same trick. So far, no recommendations on anything except to drain out what I can and replace the oil and filter, start the engine and let it circulate through and then drain again before I start doing the head gasket change. I just don't like the idea of running the engine any more than I have to until I get them changed.

 

Wait until the engine is back together. Then with the oil drain plug still out, pour some new oil (a couple of quarts) into the engine and let it push the bad stuff out of the pan.
By the way, you're not going to go through all this trouble and only fix the one head gasket are you? The other one that hasn't blown (yet) is just as old, and as far as you know it could be on the brink of destruction. Whatever was eating away at the gasket that blew was also working on the other one. What causes a blown gasket? A common cause is never flushing the cooling system.

 

I'm convinced!!!
I will remove the other head. I don't really want the extra pain BUT you're right.
I guess I just needed a little push to do it.
Thanks...

 

i just changed the oil a couple of times i used some old oil and a cheap filter to clean it out a couple of time then put my usual oil and filter and that was it

 

Did everythiing go pretty smooth getting the heads off? What about the steam pipe on the back, did it come off pretty easy? I plan on doing mine in a couple weeks.

 

cam69 is right.would be a waste to do one then few days/mos have to do the other side.pay now play later

 

Most everything came off OK except I had major heart burn with the water cross over tube on the back of the heads. The bolts don't seem to fit any normal wrenches (I tried them all) I had to use the special sockets designed to remove rounded off bolts. I was unable to get the drivers side off until the head was removed. I will replace them. I had to bend the dip stick tube just a little to remove it. It may present a problem when reinstalling it.

I'm nearly 70, have arthritis and I'm not a mechanic. However, I've been messing with cars for over 55 years. I gotta tell you, this was one of the most challanging repairs I can remember. Building an LT1 on on engine stand is a snap. (I just finished one!) There is no room in these cars. I'm not sure I will be able to properly reinstall everything. I'm SERIOUSLY considering dropping the engine and M6 out the bottom and completing the reassembly on the floor.

GOOD LUCK!

 

I think I read somewhere that those bolts on the water pipe are banjo bolts. I googled banjo bolt and they look like a regular bolt. Is there a special tool that is used for these type bolts? Was yours possibly rounded off causing your wrenches not to fit? Sorry for all the questions but want to be prepared when I go tearing into mine. Several people have posted on different forums that they had issues with these bolts, some even stripping out the threads in the heads.

 

They are "banjo " bolts. That should not make any difference. I suspect they may be a little softer than normal fasteners. Make sure you use a 6 point wrench. Don't try to remove them until the intake is off. That will give you more room.