I've been trying to get the head off, and have disconnected most of the stuff that needs disconnected and have taken the valve cover off, but I can't find the head studs. Is there something else I have to remove before I can see them or are able to pull them? Maybe I'm just an idiot and don't know what I'm looking for. There's about 6 or so of them isn't there? Anyhow, if someone could point me in the right direction that would be great. Thanks, RV.

 

It'd be nice to know what head, but Im assuming its a vtec head cause you can't see them, you gotta remove the cam caps and cams to gain access to the head studs.

 

Oh, sorry. B18b. I guess that would help wouldn't it.

 

before you take the head, put thr piston closest to the timing belt at top dead center. the cam gears have little marks on them that need to be lined up. they also have arrows that say "up". also make sure that the exhaust lobe nearest to the timing belt is looking at you and the intake lobe is pointed at your trunk. after your sure your at "tdc" remove your cam caps and the head bolts are under them.

NOTE...if your timing belt is off already, DO NOT TURN THE CAMS OR THE CRANK. THIS WILL CAUSE PISTONS AND VALVES TO MEET. i am also a noob at engine building and i just built my first motor last week. im dropping it in wednesday. i did LOTS of searching. somebody here is going to say"buy a helms" and even if you think it sounds like a snotty thing to say, they're right. this was my first mistake. get one dude. the shitty haynes book at autozone is weak. hope this helped man.

 

Yeah your right, the haynes manual isn't that great, that's what I've been looking at and it's not all that clear, at least to me. I'm not worried about having to put this back together, as I'm gonna have a shop rebuild everything for me, but I want to take it all apart to bring it to them. So the cams must come out in order to see the head studs? Thanks RV.

 

yes remove the cams and the head bolts are under them. i read a post where it says to remove the head bolts starting from the center and work your way out. i used the same order to remove them as i did to reinstall them. dont know if its true but i did it any way. dont see the harm in it. good luck

 

Yes, the cams must come out. The head bolts are directly underneath. The Acura factory manual actually says to loosen the outside bolts first, then move inward. This allows the head to relieve the pressure by expanding.

ivan93egreppin210 has some very good advice regarding positions the crank and cams at TDC before conducting any work. If you do remove the timing belt and forget where the crank is at, the best thing you can do is remove the cams. Then, you can freely rotate the crank to find the correct position since the cams won't actuate the valves.

 

Thank you very much for the in put. This helps alot. I guess it's time to go outside and figure out how to take the cams off. Thanks again. RV.