Head Gasket Kit advice

[SammoHung]

Dear resident super heros....

Can anyone with experience of his advise me on two things

1. parts quallity

NISSAN Original parts... or will either of these be fine?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NISSAN-MICRA-...ryZ10402QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

or

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HEAD-GASKET-S...ryZ10402QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



2. sealant....where how much and which types (if any)

 

[Fordy]

blueprint stuff is good! stick with a decent brand kit

you shouldnt need any sealer when changing just a headgasket!

only time you need sealer is on the sump gaskets and even then only a little bit!

 

[SammoHung]

much appreciate mate

 

[Antony]

yeah, ADL blueprint is OE spec anyway (and supply most main dealerships too, as i work for the main distributors..lol)

 

[K10]

another thumbs up for ADL blueprint from me too

 

[SammoHung]

received the blueprints...offered £30 so saved on the 9.99 postage


next quessie..

the head bolts arent hex bolts; they're a 12 pointed star......is a 'bog-standard' 12mm 12-pointed socket the right tool for these bolts?

....the fit seems ok bit with slight play?

chhers again as I prepare to venture in to unchartered territory (for me)

 

[Ed]

You have blown headgasket then?! And yes 12pt socket is fine.

 

[SammoHung]

You have blown headgasket then?!

Nope,....<all will be revealed soon ;-) >

And yes 12pt socket is fine.

cheers for the tool tip and quick reply

 

[curtis]

is someone changing the head???? :suspect:

 

[whipit]

you will want some sealant for manifolds, water pump, etc.... just some high temperature silicone will do the job.

 

[SammoHung]

OMG: I honestly cant beleive how much effort it takes to turn the cam shaft through 360 degrees by hand......!!!!

this must equate to a tonnes of losses in terms of efficiency!!

(...before anyone asks...)

NO, I'm not doing a Coates'-mod...

&

NO, I'm not doing a Desmo-mod neither...

....(yet)..lol

 

[SammoHung]

Well,

that was an epic but well worth the experience (phew)

old gasket off
20 quarrys worth of loose & flakey also tough & stubourn carbon removed from pistons head & valves
etc
etc
(days go by....my first time)
etc
Inspections, decisions
etc
valves regrinded
etc
LOTS of TLC on two problematic head bolt threads
etc
re-assemble with newly aquired blueprint head gasket and torqed according to haynes

everything so far seems tickety-boo!

but I wanted to ask for one more bit of advice:

I have read that a few of you have prefered different head torquing methods, but Im more interested in the after care.....

...is there a short running-in schedule that I should follow before demanding a lot from the car (high RPM & high loads etc)

for example do I need to recheck /retorque the head bolts after a week or so????(im making this up as an example)...of should she be good to go straight away?

I will ofcourse do an early oil and coolant change in about a fourtnight

any tips would be much appreciated

thanks guys

ps I didd find something during my inspections but I'll raise this as a separate thread later on

 

[SammoHung]

Wait a minute!!??

Ive just been going through my snapshots of the cylinder-head rework that I was busy with over the weekend...... and I've just found something truely bizzare....




....lol

 

[frank]

sammo

its no wonder you had 2 problematic headbolts :grinning:

 

[K10]

LOL very good nice work too sammo

i'm unsure of running in schedules, but I'd just re-torque the head bolts after a K or so. Just my 2p