Finally Finished!!! Woot!!! Thanks!!

[jgcable]

I finally finished the head gasket on my 1987 NA Supra. Its just a daily driver.

I replaced:

Head gasket (stock Felpro)
I stripped the head and had a machine shop repair a rear water jacket and plain it flat.
I installed new:
valve stem seals
injector cushions
injector o-rings
water pump
timing belt
all new gaskets
front cam seals
New Toyota head bolts (I torked them to 72ft lbs. in 5 passes)
I painted an detailed everything
I spend about 4 weeks on it. I studied until my eyes bled, I asked tons of questions here and I followed the TRSM and the Haynes manual that I have.
I didn't have a single bolt left.
I pulled out my timing light and started her up this morning. She started right up but was running like crap. I broke out the timing light, jumped the diagnostic port as per the manual directs and set the timing to 10 degrees BTDC. She is running beautiful. I let her run for around 20 minutes and removed the radiator cap and had to put in about 2 pints.
I started her back up and she started instantly, idles at 650, no leaks, no vacuum leaks. Basically she purrs like a kitten.

I am so happy. Thank all you guys so much for all the help. I couldn't have done it without your help!!!

 

[Facime]

well done! If it lasts longer than 3 months you should be fine

 

[rtrdpenguin]

Sounds like you did a good thorough job! Now you get to do the fun part, driving =)

 

[jdub]

Don't forget to re-torque those stock head bolts after 5 complete warm-up/cool down cycles. Change the oil and filter now...do it again after 500 miles.

Feels good to have that done huh

 

[IJ.]

^ LOL beat me to it

 

[figgie]

done huh

Done? That a mythical word!

Shhh

You are going to jinx the kid

 

[jgcable]

Don't forget to re-torque those stock head bolts after 5 complete warm-up/cool down cycles. Change the oil and filter now...do it again after 500 miles.

Feels good to have that done huh

It does feel good but I certainly am not looking forward to ripping the entire motor apart again to re-torque the heads. What a pain in the butt after spending a month working the car every spare moment I had.

Is a re-torque really necessary on a n/a totally stock car that is not beat on??
I used a Felpro gasket, I copper sprayed both sides and I used new head bolts and torque'd them to 72ftpds.
Basically I am pretty "done" with working on this car for the time being.
A couple of buddies of mine who are mechanics said they would re-torque if the motor was built of it it was a turbo but for a stock automatic car they wouldn't bother with a retorque.

 

[mattsplat72]

In a nut shell YES think of all the time you just spent .... why waste it on a simple step ? 4 weeks hard work lost because you got lazy at the end . What was the point of doing it right if you just ge tlazy at the end

ReTorque the damn bolts silly

 

[jdub]

Well, you're not "ripping the entire motor apart" to do a re-torque...at least I hope you don't

The question you have to ask yourself is: Do you want to risk doing the entire HG job again in 6 months?

 

[Facime]

You just need to pull the cam covers. Make sure you read the proper proceedure for re-torquing. It shouldnt take you more than an hour max, and then you can hang up your supra mechanincs hat for a while.

 

[IJ.]

Countdown to "Why is my car using coolant" in 10,9,8..........

 

[jgcable]

I am going to do the retorque. I'll give it a week of driving around and retorque. That should be 5-8 heat cycles and around 100 miles tops. Should I wait longer?
How many miles should I go and what is the retorque procedure? Do I loosen and retighten or just check tightness?
Thanks guys...

 

[jdub]

Good decision

That's plenty of time/heat cycles. You want to follow the TSRM pattern, use a breaker bar (not a torque wrench) and just "crack" the head bolt counter clockwise...that is the 1st movement you detect (1/4 turn max). Then re-torque to 72 ft/lbs...you can go to 75 ft/lbs if you wish.

 

[group a supra]

Countdown to "Why is my car using coolant" in 10,9,8..........

roflmao i couldnt agree more

 

[jgcable]

Here is a simple question...how is it possible to pull the cam covers and retorque in under an hour??

It looks to me that in order to pull the drivers side cam cover I have to remove the intake manifold. This means I have to remove all the dreaded vacuum hoses and sensors that are under the manifold that took me 3-4 hours to get all back together. If I pull the throttle body and the throttle linkage it looks like I will only be able to get the passenger side cam cover off. The intake manifold assembly is in 3 parts...
Throttle body
that short piece inbetween the throttle body and the intake runners
The curved intake runners
the short piece between the curved runners that connect them to the head

What I am asking is... can I slip the cam cover off by just removing the throttle body just like I have to do when I changed the spark plugs??

 

[Jaguar_5]

All you have to remove is the air piping to the TB, and the TB itself

 

[jgcable]

All you have to remove is the air piping to the TB, and the TB itself

Yea I understand that but it looks like the drivers side cam cover is directly under the intake with an inch to spare. Are you saying there is enough clearance to slide it sideways and out??

 

[Facime]

What I am asking is... can I slip the cam cover off by just removing the throttle body just like I have to do when I changed the spark plugs??

yes. absolutely no need to remove the upper plenum

 

[AJ'S 88NA]

It's easy to do just leave the coolant lines hooked up, disconnect the linkage, and what ever else would keep it from being flipped over on the upper intake manifold.

 

[cuel]

Yup. As they said, it's pretty easy. Should take you a half hour, maybe a bit more.

Make sure you have another throttle body gasket on hand, just in case you damage the one that's on it now.