Head Removal

[MontyPythonX]

I have to remove one of the heads on my LS2 VXR8. Is this doable on the driveway?

I'll enlist the help of a friend who is experienced in taking engines apart but has never worked on one of these before, so are there tips & tricks to look out for, and hazards to avoid?

Also, am i right in assuming head gasket and head bolts are the only non-reusable parts?

[SturdyHSV]

Very doable, everything is accessible at the top so not a big job really, bit of coolant going everywhere but that's it.

I think whichever head you are taking off, there are bits bolted to the back of it (cable clips or grounding wires) so have a good feel around to make sure they're off, the heads are physically the same both sides, so the front of the one you're not taking off will be the same as the back of the one you are taking off in terms of bolt hole placement.

Before bolting it back on, make sure to clean out any coolant that's fallen down into the head bolt holes, coolant doesn't compress very well so you won't have much fun trying to get the head bolts back in if there's a little pool of coolant at the bottom...

Oh and yes, your assumption is correct. The rocker cover gaskets are pretty rugged in terms of reuse.

[maccavvy]

they aren't too complicated to remove a head. easily doable on the driveway .

id replace all gaskets ,reusing a rocker gasket is doable but in the grand scheme of price is it worth it

check rock auto for parts.

[SturdyHSV]

maccavvy said:

they aren't too complicated to remove a head. easily doable on the driveway .

id replace all gaskets ,reusing a rocker gasket is doable but in the grand scheme of price is it worth it

check rock auto for parts.

If he hasn't ordered the bits already then I'd agree chuck in a rocker cover gasket as well, but given how simple they are to replace, would argue reusing it wouldn't be that bad, save the good one for if / when the reused one ever develops a leak

I suppose it'll depend on the condition of the existing gasket when he takes it off...

[bigwheel]

Why one head off?

[MontyPythonX]

bigwheel said:

Why one head off?

Swapping the intake manifold to a FAST unit, I had a brain fart and torqued the bolts up to 45ft-lb rather than 45in-lb. One of them snapped and in the process of removing it i'm confident some bits went down the bolt hole.
After doing lots of looking at pictures of the heads, I think the intake manifold bolt hole is a through hole and so whatever dropped down will now be sat near the pushrods on the block (please correct me if i'm wrong). To be safe I want to take the head off and find out for sure if anything is in there before starting it up

Edited by MontyPythonX on Thursday 30th April 13:32

[MontyPythonX]

SturdyHSV said:

If he hasn't ordered the bits already then I'd agree chuck in a rocker cover gasket as well, but given how simple they are to replace, would argue reusing it wouldn't be that bad, save the good one for if / when the reused one ever develops a leak

I suppose it'll depend on the condition of the existing gasket when he takes it off...

Nothing is ordered yet, wanted to make sure it's doable before buying the bits.

[SturdyHSV]

MontyPythonX said:

Swapping the intake manifold to a FAST unit, I had a brain fart and torqued the bolts up to 45ft-lb rather than 45in-lb. One of them snapped and in the process of removing it i'm confident some bits went down the bolt hole.
After doing lots of looking at pictures of the heads, I think the intake manifold bolt hole is a through hole and so whatever dropped down will now be sat near the pushrods on the block (please correct me if i'm wrong). To be safe I want to take the head off and find out for sure if anything is in there before starting it up

Edited by MontyPythonX on Thursday 30th April 13:32

I'm not convinced the manifold bolt holes go through the head, a good starter might be to take one of them out and see how far you can prod a straw of something down there (or one of those little USB optical cameras better yet!) to confirm for yourself.

Presumably if the bolt snapped, the head of the bolt came off in the socket tool and the thread would have stayed in the bolt hole? Or was it when lifting the manifold off bits fell down in to the intake port?

If the intake valve was closed then the inspection camera thingy might be worth a go to have a look down there to inspect...

[MontyPythonX]

SturdyHSV said:

I'm not convinced the manifold bolt holes go through the head, a good starter might be to take one of them out and see how far you can prod a straw of something down there (or one of those little USB optical cameras better yet!) to confirm for yourself.

Presumably if the bolt snapped, the head of the bolt came off in the socket tool and the thread would have stayed in the bolt hole? Or was it when lifting the manifold off bits fell down in to the intake port?

If the intake valve was closed then the inspection camera thingy might be worth a go to have a look down there to inspect...

I've thought about the little USB endoscope thing, but because the thread is an M6, then the ID of the hole is ~4.9mm and any endoscope small enough to fit down there is a lot of money!
I was going to do what you suggested anyway...get a piece of thin gauge wire and see how far it will go down the hole. If it comes out dry i suspect the hole doesn't go all the way through, if it comes out coated in oil i know it does go through.

[stevieturbo]

MontyPythonX said:

Swapping the intake manifold to a FAST unit, I had a brain fart and torqued the bolts up to 45ft-lb rather than 45in-lb. One of them snapped and in the process of removing it i'm confident some bits went down the bolt hole.
After doing lots of looking at pictures of the heads, I think the intake manifold bolt hole is a through hole and so whatever dropped down will now be sat near the pushrods on the block (please correct me if i'm wrong). To be safe I want to take the head off and find out for sure if anything is in there before starting it up

Edited by MontyPythonX on Thursday 30th April 13:32

I really dont see how if it snapped, the threaded part could do anything except stay in the hole ?

But the holes are through holes, and may drop something down into the lifter tray area. Although you could probably stick a good pen magnet down the pushrod hole ( pushrods removed obviously ) to catch any part of the bolt.

But surely you should know exactly what or how much of any bolt is missing....because you have the rest of the bolt ?

But head removal isnt overly difficult, all gaskets are re-usable, although only a looney would re-use the head gasket lol.
If the rocker cover gasket is not leaking, and is still stuck in the rocker cover..I'd leave it alone.

But if you've fked the threads for the intake bolts, chances are it will need helicoiled, which is probably better doing off the car.

[MontyPythonX]

The remnants of the bolt did stay in the hole, but as I was drilling a hole in the bolt to use a bolt extractor the remnants became loose and wound down the thread, I wasn't paying full attention until the drill went light. My own fault, i know, but it is what it is.

Good idea regarding the magnetic pen through the pushrod hole. I'll give this a go

The threads on the intake holes are all fine, i've checked with a new bolt

Edited by MontyPythonX on Friday 1st May 08:19

[Lincsls1]

MontyPythonX said:

The remnants of the bolt did stay in the hole, but as I was drilling a hole in the bolt to use a bolt extractor the remnants became loose and wound down the thread, I wasn't paying full attention until the drill went light. My own fault, i know, but it is what it is.

Good idea regarding the magnetic pen through the pushrod hole. I'll give this a go

The threads on the intake holes are all fine, i've checked with a new bolt

Edited by MontyPythonX on Friday 1st May 08:19

And now it is becomes clear! Jeez you've dropped a bk there! Thought I was the only one to get myself in trouble like this!
So the drill wound the remaining piece of bolt down into the abyss! Good luck with the magnetic pen idea.

[MontyPythonX]

Lincsls1 said:

Thought I was the only one to get myself in trouble like this!

I'm glad i'm not the only one who makes mistakes like this...i will definitely learn from it!!
Once i realised what had happened i was trying to convince myself that it was a blind hole, and not a through hole so the bolt wouldn't have fallen anywhere...

[fred bloggs]

I know its too late for you OP, but you can buy left handed drill bits for removing broken studs. If it picks up, it winds the bolt out not in.
Info for next time. Id try with the magnet first as well.

[Boosted LS1]

You can drain the coolant from the head. If you get any coolant in the head bolt bores then it can be soaked up with kitchen paper. It may be an idea to order a new exhaust manifold gasket. Also check out the order/sequence for tightening the rocker arms.

[MontyPythonX]

Boosted LS1 said:

You can drain the coolant from the head. If you get any coolant in the head bolt bores then it can be soaked up with kitchen paper. It may be an idea to order a new exhaust manifold gasket. Also check out the order/sequence for tightening the rocker arms.

Yeah, i have a RockAuto cart with a full set of head, exhaust manifold and valve over gaskets + the grommets and new head bolts...going to see if the magnet works before ordering.
Will i need to lash the valves again after removing the rocker arm? I suspect not if i'm just removing and replacing, not actually changing anything?

[MontyPythonX]

fred bloggs said:

I know its too late for you OP, but you can buy left handed drill bits for removing broken studs. If it picks up, it winds the bolt out not in.
Info for next time. Id try with the magnet first as well.

My toolbox is filling up with all these little bits that (hopefully) i'll never need again but are useful to have

[Boosted LS1]

MontyPythonX said:

Boosted LS1 said:

You can drain the coolant from the head. If you get any coolant in the head bolt bores then it can be soaked up with kitchen paper. It may be an idea to order a new exhaust manifold gasket. Also check out the order/sequence for tightening the rocker arms.

Yeah, i have a RockAuto cart with a full set of head, exhaust manifold and valve over gaskets + the grommets and new head bolts...going to see if the magnet works before ordering.
Will i need to lash the valves again after removing the rocker arm? I suspect not if i'm just removing and replacing, not actually changing anything?

The lifter pre-loads established by the factory so should be in the ballpark if you've not changed anything. It's best to fit the rocker arms in the correct sequence otherwise they may end up loose and rattle. It's covered in the manual or on the internet.

If you've got solid lifters then you will have to do the lash settings again.

[SturdyHSV]

You'll have hydraulic lifters, preload is basically set by pushrod length so you'll have nowt to worry about in that respect.

[MontyPythonX]

All set to do the job on Friday (work has prevented me from doing it any sooner)
I dont want to compound my mistake (any further) so thought i'd check here first...when torquing the rocker arm back down do i need to rotate the crank to make sure the valve is fully closed first?