Engine Top End

[06T200]

LOL Easy as cake! Hell if I can do it anyone can. Once you tear down the head, lay everything out in ORDER (if you are anal like me) and if you can keep everything in sync with how it came out. I used a drill press to 'push' on the lifters to check them. If the internal springs are locked or seem collapsed they may 'click' on cold start, but not really a big deal, more of an embarrassment issue rather than a mechanical issue. I like my engine to purr not clack lol


If you are an engine noob you may want to farm out the guides to a machinist, and possibly the teardown/assembly, but these are very easy heads to build as the valves are so tiny and springs are so small you can use motorcycle tools to assemble it, and is exactly what I did. The guides can be a pain in the ass if you don't have the correct tools, and you may wind up breaking one, just to warn ya, they are tough but can crack or (worse) get stuck in the head. Would hate to see you make a mistake that costs more $$. I farm out the cleaning and pressure test stuff only and do the rest myself, I only pressure tested mine since I had no honest record of it's history, so I over did it just because I was 'new to the car', you can get by just fixing what was damaged as you know the history.

For me the real 'fun' was getting all the bolts tight using the angle method. But is cake once you do it. I don't think I see a fresh timing set in your pile of parts, so don't forget that. For more tips see my long thread on my orange car, even where to get a cheapo spring compressor tool that will work fine for the job. Have you ever lapped a set of valves? There should be some youtubes out there to show the method, is all easy stuff, just an 'acquired skill' to do it well. You want a grey 'ring' all around the seat, then set it aside do the next. Once all done wash out the compound so it does not eat up your new guides and valves. Then start assembly, and take your time, there are the same number of valves as in a V8 so it takes time, and is good to do yourself as this is where the big bucks come in at a shop. This stuff all takes TIME. The more you can do the less $$ it will take. I think in all mine was around a grand including a new CAT, suspension parts, trans service/flush, etc. I think the valves are the most spendy part of this job.