im putting my head on right now (90si head cx block) i need to know which holes to put the 2 dowel pins in. its my first time tearing and engine apart and reassembling it. thanx in advance

 

if there is a reason for installing on one side or the other i'm unaware of it. both the head and block are aluminum so both have an equal risk of being scratched if your not careful.

 

... i dont get what youre trying to say

 

what i'm saying is i have not had someone explain to me why installing the dowels on one side would be better than the other. what i do know is both the head and block are aluminum so either way you go there is still an equal chance of scratching something. if for example you had a 2jz with an iron block i imagine it would be recommended that you put the dowels in the aluminum head since the block is much less likely to be damaged during install.

 

ok i get that. what i was asking is which holes do the dowel pins go in? does it matter? do they only go in certain holes? etc.

 

when i rebuilt my engine I put them in the two holes which were closest to the exhaust. I don't know if it was like this when I pulled it apart and I honestly don't know why there wasn't 4 dowel pins as to make the whole process easier. Perhaps it really wasn't needed.

And besides the guy at the machine shop told me the dowel pins are only for alignment of the head gasket when you put it on.

 

only 2 holes they can go in and they are diagonal eachother.

it is important that they are used because it is not just for lining up the headgasket. they are machined fit because they are designed to keep the head from shifting on the block.