[wenger828]

ok well i officially started today. a friend came by to help me start on headgasket. all is going pretty well, never took head off before so its kinda a pita with all the hoses and wires and stuff. anyways, i'll take pics along the install. pics suck because my camera refuses to focus on its own. anyways, here they are.

timing belt is still on because we broke the socket for the crank bolt. that thing is on HARD. any tips on getting it out? might take a torch to it and heat it up.
anyways, just gotta get the lower intake plenum off after i get all the wires and shit from the harness underneath it.

 

[lambchop11078]

ok well i officially started today. a friend came by to help me start on headgasket. all is going pretty well, never took head off before so its kinda a pita with all the hoses and wires and stuff. anyways, i'll take pics along the install. pics suck because my camera refuses to focus on its own. anyways, here they are.

timing belt is still on because we broke the socket for the crank bolt. that thing is on HARD. any tips on getting it out? might take a torch to it and heat it up.
anyways, just gotta get the lower intake plenum off after i get all the wires and shit from the harness underneath it.

No need to take off the crank unless you want to replace the timing belt. You can just loosen the timing belt tensioner and slide the belt off the cam gears then remove the cam shafts and viola...the head will be off. Good luck with the install so far it's looking good.

 

[Blue99Altezza]

That's cool that you are doing the install yourself. I will keep checking back on your progress. Is your camera a Sony Cybershot? My friend had one and it won't focus either......

 

[wenger828]

No need to take off the crank unless you want to replace the timing belt. You can just loosen the timing belt tensioner and slide the belt off the cam gears then remove the cam shafts and viola...the head will be off. Good luck with the install so far it's looking good.

ahh ok that would make my life alot more easier. i almost killed myself trying to take that damn crank bolt off.

and btw, my camera is a powershot a610, it works every now and then. i think its just the low light conditions that make the zoom on it more crappy. continuing today with dropping headers and exhaust all the way back, and hopefully try to get most of the head shit off today.

 

[htekwo]

ahh ok that would make my life alot more easier. i almost killed myself trying to take that damn crank bolt off.

and btw, my camera is a powershot a610, it works every now and then. i think its just the low light conditions that make the zoom on it more crappy. continuing today with dropping headers and exhaust all the way back, and hopefully try to get most of the head shit off today.

If you do have to take the crank pully off, the best way is with a long chain wrench and a breaker bar and a long pipe for leverage. I could never get them off with an air wrench! I took everything off the front of the car when I did it. It makes it easier to mount the intercooler and piping. BTW, the brackets for the IC supplied by Boostlogic did not match up perfectly, you might have to do some slight re-drilling or bending of the brackets. Did you think about their new 700hp IC that they are shipping now?

Be sure you do not take the 5 bolts off the front of the intake cam gear! Just take off the center bolt. The TSRM says if you remove the bolts, discard the cam gear and replace (ouch!)

Off Topic, can someone tell me how to post pics. When I try, it says that the pic is to large.

 

[lambchop11078]

If you do have to take the crank pully off, the best way is with a long chain wrench and a breaker bar and a long pipe for leverage. I could never get them off with an air wrench! I took everything off the front of the car when I did it. It makes it easier to mount the intercooler and piping. BTW, the brackets for the IC supplied by Boostlogic did not match up perfectly, you might have to do some slight re-drilling or bending of the brackets. Did you think about their new 700hp IC that they are shipping now?

Off Topic, can someone tell me how to post pics. When I try, it says that the pic is to large.

Upload the pics at www.tinypic.com . If you want to know about the 700 HP intercooler setup ask Chris (kuuligan), that's his car with the intercooler. When I talked to Kean, all the intercooler piping and brackets will be reused. The only catch is you lose the crash bar.

 

[wenger828]

yeah, well we had a HUGE bar for leverage, broke a good 22mm mac socket. i know not to touch those 5 bolts haha, woudln't want to replace that. i'm gonna go ahead and see the fitment of the IC. more pics to come.

 

[Malekreza11]

Hey dood..

when removing the intake plenum to do the head. DO NO unplug the wires for it, its a waste of time. Simple unbolt the lower plenem with all the wires on it, and move it out of the way. It will give you all the room in the world to remove the hood easily. No need to make it more difficult. Just set a cover a large towel under the plenum just in case so it doesnt scratch your engine bay or anything.

Clean the head and block deck well and wipe it down with acetone.

 

[Malekreza11]

yeah, well we had a HUGE bar for leverage, broke a good 22mm mac socket. i know not to touch those 5 bolts haha, woudln't want to replace that. i'm gonna go ahead and see the fitment of the IC. more pics to come.

you need a 3/4 inch breaker bar with a 3/4inch socket on it. Go to harbor freight, buy a crank pulley chain. Wrap the pulley with an old belt or something so the puley doesnt get damaged from the chain. The pulley will come off really easy.

 

[wenger828]

Hey dood..

when removing the intake plenum to do the head. DO NO unplug the wires for it, its a waste of time. Simple unbolt the lower plenem with all the wires on it, and move it out of the way. It will give you all the room in the world to remove the hood easily. No need to make it more difficult. Just set a cover a large towel under the plenum just in case so it doesnt scratch your engine bay or anything.

Clean the head and block deck well and wipe it down with acetone.

damn wish you told me that earlier haha. the only wire i feel that needs to get out of the way is the one that goes straight down the starter(?) from the main harness. its inbetween the 6 intake pipes.

 

[htekwo]

damn wish you told me that earlier haha. the only wire i feel that needs to get out of the way is the one that goes straight down the starter(?) from the main harness. its inbetween the 6 intake pipes.

I'm in the process of tearing mine down again for the built block. I took the lower intake off the head and didn't mess with the wires for the starter. You will have enough room with them hooked up. You will have to move the power steering pump and resevoir and take off the intake support bracket though. It's very hard to get to the bolts with it in the way. This will make it easier to do the oil feed line also.

Off topic, is there any reason to keep the VSV stuff under the intake if you are completely standalone? Can I just block off all the lines and take that thing out?

 

[phamous101]

You will damage the crank pulley if you torch it. For future reference.....

 

[kuuligan]

Upload the pics at www.tinypic.com . If you want to know about the 700 HP intercooler setup ask Chris (kuuligan), that's his car with the intercooler. When I talked to Kean, all the intercooler piping and brackets will be reused. The only catch is you lose the crash bar.

intercooler is on my car right now. Its getting re-tuned next week so I will have some revised numbers then.

I'll keep you all updated.

 

[wenger828]

ahh another day of disassembly. i'm moving rather slow, but i still gotta wait for my injectors to come in. anyways, here are some pictures.

put valve covers back on just to keep it clean.

intercooler mounted and fit perfectly with brackets and such.

my partner in crime.

so i got the headers out, fuel rail and injectors. got the lower intake off, but not taking it off completely. umm next up, timing belt, cam sprockets and w/e else that is there.
ps: can someone give me tips on how to get at the timing belt tensioner? and i'm completely lost on how to set timing correctly. someone please give me the run down.

 

[Malekreza11]

ahh another day of disassembly. i'm moving rather slow, but i still gotta wait for my injectors to come in. anyways, here are some pictures.

put valve covers back on just to keep it clean.

intercooler mounted and fit perfectly with brackets and such.

my partner in crime.

so i got the headers out, fuel rail and injectors. got the lower intake off, but not taking it off completely. umm next up, timing belt, cam sprockets and w/e else that is there.
ps: can someone give me tips on how to get at the timing belt tensioner? and i'm completely lost on how to set timing correctly. someone please give me the run down.

so set your timing....

Set the CRANK pulley to 60 Degress before TDC. The FIRST mark on the CRANK pulley.

Set your CAM PULLEY's at 30 Degree's before TDC. Which would be the FIRST marks, or the DOTS.

For the VVTI pulley, make sure it is turned ALL THE WAY CLOCKWISE when the timing marks line up. it should have a few degree's of play counterclock wise, but all the way clockwise the FIRST timing mark of the VVTI pulley should line up with the guide mark on the black plate behind the 2 pulleys.

the timing belt tensioner is under the car smushed inbetween the alternator and a rubber breather hose comming off the water pump. BEFORE you remove the tensioner, stick a pin through the Tensioner so you dont have to worry about compressing the spring again. Loosen the 2 bolt uniformly and take it out.

Dont get grease on your timing belt. Also, since you are doing a much thicker headgasket than stock.. its going to be a PAIN IN THE ASS to put the belt back on even with the tensioner removed, so dont be surprised. ALso, because your HG is a tad thicker than before, the timing marks might be bit slightly off, so you may have to compensate for that..

Also.. the reason i am advising you to do it all at 60 and 30 degree's Before TDC is because at that point, NONE of your pistons are fully up and you cant cause damage in case you mess up.

 

[wenger828]

ok what i dont understand.. when you say that set the crank pulley to the first mark, on the crank pulley, there are 3 different marks. one is yellow, one is white, and the other is red i think. which one of those do i set to the first mark on the timing belt cover?

not only that, when you say before tdc, what i dont understand, what exactly is before TDC if there are 6 pistons that are all in different positions? i feel like if i were to set the crank at 60 degrees before TDC, it wouldn't matter because for every revolution, the pistons are in a different location. i'm really confused here and was thinking about that.

 

[Sunburn]

timing belt is still on because we broke the socket for the crank bolt. that thing is on HARD. any tips on getting it out? might take a torch to it and heat it up.

Easiest way to remove the crank bolt by FAR:

Just put a breaker bar/tube around the end of your socket wrench while the socket is on the the Crank Bolt. Lay the breaker bar on the driver side of the engine against the concrete floor so there is not much play.

Now crank your engine for a split second. The bolt will be loose and you can undo it by hand. Easy as pie.

 

[wenger828]

thats scary haha. i'm gonna try to do without taking out crank bolt.

 

[wenger828]

ok so re-reading the manual again..
i turn crankshaft clockwise and match the timing mark (which is the second mark past the first one) and make sure it matches up with the timing dashes on the cam gears correct?
afterwards, rotate crank pulley counter clockwise to the original timing mark on crank pulley that i passed and match that up with the dot marks on the cam gear right?

should i take a note of the position of the first cam lobe on both intake and exhaust sides as well?
and also, should i mark the teeth on the belt with the timing marks on the cam gears?

 

[ISpeed300]

Easiest way to remove the crank bolt by FAR:

Just put a breaker bar/tube around the end of your socket wrench while the socket is on the the Crank Bolt. Lay the breaker bar on the driver side of the engine against the concrete floor so there is not much play.

Now crank your engine for a split second. The bolt will be loose and you can undo it by hand. Easy as pie.

As scary as it sounds, this actually works well.