gaskets....

[Stopherson]

Any ideas on how much a head gasket costs to replace on a griffith 500? I just blew mine (long story which i am still too depressed to relate)

The upshot of it all is that the water side blew out but it doesn't seem to have contaminated the oil. The engine still turned over and seemed to run fine (when cool)when the AA had a look but the fans don't kick in - thermostat problem? The fans themselves run ok when you bypass the switch.

I am still hoping that this is just a bad dream!

[shpub]

If the head gasket has gone, don't drive it just get it recovered to hospital. There is a serious risk of warping the heads and that is about 2 grand a side!

Cylinder head gaskets are not cheap because there are lots of differences so costs depend on what is needed as there are a lot of variations. I had mine go on the Griff 500 runabout (it got a new name at Christmas)and the total cost was around £700 but did include a precautionary head reskim and check and all the air con stuff had to come off which meant it took a lot longer and had to be recharged at the end. Several oil changes to get rid of the mayo and the whole of the front cover had to come off and there were problems getting the oil pump to prime. A lot of the cost is gaskets and cylinder head bolts etc

Worth getting the cam and rockers checked though as mine were shot because no pre-load had been used. The damaged items did feature in the latest book so we all get some benefit out of the extra few hundred it cost.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk


>> Edited by shpub on Wednesday 8th January 14:39

[Stopherson]

thanks Steve - i pulled over immediately and only turned over the engine for the AA. The car is in hospital now, let's wait and see. I couldn't see any 'mayo' in the oil filler cap or on the dipstick so hopefully all that can be avoided. The temperature indicator was off the scale though...bit of a worry.

[joospeed]

hope you get it sorted soon .. I've got a V8S in at the moment (lovely deep metallic red colour car, looks great!) which has had persistent overheating problems, after heads removed both gaskets show signs of carbon lines into the cooling jacket but the heads are ruler straight, they're alot tougher than most people think. total cost for job will be around 400 pounds I reckon. V8S quite easy to work on in comparison to griff though since access is so much easier.
Joolz

[Stopherson]

first time i've been glad not to have air conditioning!

[2 sheds]

If you go to somebody who knows what they are doing will only take about a day, as Joolz says £400 if its just gaskets, and thats a good price. imagine what a main dealer would charge.
Tim