So I found my exhaust leak, right in between my 4 yr. old Greddy turbo and manifold.



I figured since I'd be taking off the turbo setup to replace the gaskets I might as well get my ARP headstuds, OEM headgasket, water pump and thermostat installed too while I'm at it.



As we were slowly taking off 38597697843 bolts, 238947 hoses and 328 various clips to pull the head, I took a moment to express my feelings for my little turbo Honda.



Awww, look at the little turbo. It's so cute!



Got the Greddy turbo and manifold apart...



Did you know that the stock turbo inlet gasket from a Nissan 300ZX turbo is a direct replacement for the Greddy TD04H-15G turbo/manifold gasket?



Turbo kit, valve cover and other misc. **** are off, head's just about ready to be pulled.



*looks at empty wallet, then mutters to self* "Stupid turbo Honda."



Got the head off. Jeez, it's dirty down there!



After multiple measurements with a straightedge and feeler gauges, we determined that the head is warped. Heading off to get resurfaced tomorrow.



My little 15G vs. my new turbo



ARP headstuds are in, finger-tight and OEM HG is copper-sprayed and ready to get flattened by a cylinder head



One problem though...WHY THE HELL IS ONE THREAD ON MY BLOCK LOWER THAN THE OTHERS???? It'd better seal...*knock on wood*



That's all for right now. We've chosen to operate at the pace of a snail in heat. No need to rush something delicate like a headgasket replacement.

I'll post pics tomorrow night or whenever we get back to GITTIN' R DONE!

Reppin' 4 dA D-Series Turbo Ninjas 4 LyFe! (or till I blow this motor up )

 

looks like fun sux that the head was warped.... dseries

 

clean thoose pistons, pistons like to be clean

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boostincoupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have that exact same light!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DewMota &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">clean thoose pistons, pistons like to be clean </TD></TR></TABLE>.

I was just thinking about that. What should I clean them with?

 

Poor some Sea Foam in there and let it sit. It should eat through all those deposits.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98spydert &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Poor some Sea Foam in there and let it sit. It should eat through all those deposits.</TD></TR></TABLE>



you sure?

 

i thought you cant have coolant/liquid in the pistons. thought it will lock up

 

be careful cleaning the piston tops, use a vaccum or something while you work to pickup the debris as you go... if you must have them clean.

otherwise I have been told it will (the debris) get down into the clearance area between pistons/sleeves... which will end up scratching/scaring the cyl walls when you startup and run.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boostincoupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">



you sure?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry, should have gone more in depth.

As far as hydro-lock, it's not much to worry about when dealing with small amounts of fluid. I'm sprayed a hose into a throttle body while it was running and nothing happened.
Plus, to ease your mind, sea foam evaperates like acetone so after you suck out the majority of it with a shop vac, the rest will evaperate. The carbon deposits will all but vaporize and come out your exhaust as thick smoke so I hope you're cool with your nieghbors. Change your oil after the sea foam treatment though, small particles do get PAST the rings and you don't want those sitting in your oil. You could do a engine flush also but that's optional. If you think you're do for one anyways, go for it.
Should be an easy job for you considering you have your head off already.

 

Thanks for the info.

So I took my head to the machine shop today. Turns out the head has been off the car before, which I never knew (I thought I had a stock, virgin motor ). Not only that, but the guy who took off the head used a whizzer wheel to grind down the surface of the head instead of getting it properly resurfaced.

So I think I hopefully found the reason my car's been overheating. Warped head due to shoddy work.

At least I'm getting it done right this time.

I'm going to pick up my intake manifold gasket from Honda today, any tips on how to get the old one off? it's caked on there

 

A razor blade always works but just go slow

 

Update:

The machine shop called me. My head is fucked up.

Besides being warped, all 8 exhaust valves and 4 intake valves are leaking.

Not to mention the valve seals and cam seal are leaking also.

So here's what I'm having done:

-FULL OEM spec rebuild.
-all new seals and guides (valve and cam)
-all carbon deposits removed from valves and head
-fresh resurface
-completely blasted for a fresh machined finish
-3 angle valve job

All this for about $330. And to think I just came in for a $65 resurface.

 

bump

Cleaned up my turbo and other shiet today, trying to make the rest of my engine bay look as clean as my rebuilt head will.

 

Hey, now is the time to think about throwing in some new valve springs while its apart. Who knows, might want to put a cam in later

 

i got 2 new valves, all the other valves checked, replaced stem seals and others, and got a 3 angle valve job and the head milled for $225 from a very repetuable machine shop in NC. Plus they were actually friendly and not jackasses like most places I got my intake manifold gasket off buy using some gasket remover and bunch of razor blades, that was the most agrevating part of the whole thing. GOOD luck