I have to do water pump and head gasket in a couple of months, and wonder what I should get done while things are apart. 1. Timing belt - might as well, though it still has about 30k 'till next change. 2. Since the head will be off, I thought it might be worth a refurb. Reseat valves and general clean up. 3. T-stat and cooling hoses. Rad is fairly new (a few years and only about 20k miles.) Anything else (besides normal maintenance stuff)?
On this note, and this is for anyone, is the timing belt a PITA to change? I've got my Bentley ready and rearin' to go for Spring Break, and I'm gonna order the part soon so my grandfather and I can do some male bonding
I'd probably go ahead and throw a Shrick 272 in the head while you've got it off and clean it up. Inspect the rockers and shaft. New bolts for the head since its coming off. New accessory belts as well. Pull the injectors out and clean them up, new o-rings, check for any cracked/worn vacuum hoses.
That's pretty much it. You can really get bogged down if you want to do the "while I am in there" thing. I delete the throttle body heater (plug the hole in the block and cap off the fitting at the t-stat housing.) DON'T set the head down on the sealing surface without supporting it on wood blocks at the edges. That is a great way to bend valves. Pull the head very carefully so you don't bend any valves. Set the motor to TDC before pulling the head, set the cam to TDC before reinstalling it, and make sure you recheck it before installing the belt. If you send the head to a machine shop for valve grinding, don't expect to get it back in the same week. If you have never done valves before, make sure you have the tools on hand and the time to do it, as pulling the valves to lap them takes significantly longer than just a head gasket swap. If you do decide to send the head off, make sure you buy a top end gasket set, which has all the gaskets you need to pull the manifolds and disassemble the head. You do not have to pull the manifolds from the head to do the head gasket, though. Do not let the machine shop tell you that you need new valve guides, though. They are all loose like that and you don't have the money or time to replace them (plus they tend to screw up that sort of thing unless they are a good machine shop.) Liek I said, don't expect that there will be no problems and that you can drive the car when spring break is over. Have a back up plan just in case.
