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I'm batch biccies!!

Just off to check latest time felt quick
Crashed the gears and hit the limiter in 4th just over the line..... Spitting flames on the burnout.... Ooh......
 
Now with added blown head gasket.

Ffs.

Overheated whilst stood, boiled off most of the coolant. Managed to fill it up and got almost home when the gauge shot off the scale, the engine died and steam came hoofing out of the bonnet.

Left it to cool for about ten minutes and managed to limp home.
Ran the car with a hosepipe in the rad filler in an attempt to cool the bugger.
But there's no chance,

It boiled that in about three minutes flat.

Starts of mayonnaise in the oil too.

Ffs.
Was supposed to be a daily driver lol.


What now then guys?
I mean I've changed headgaskets in two hours before, but do I do anything else whilst it's off?
Is it worth it?
Do I fit two? Spacer? Mls?

That's at just 8psi too.
Hmm.

....
 
its just the 15yr old gasket giving up ant, been there done that :) fit some k12 fire rings under the new gasket
the 2 awkward head bolts under the inlet mani (and the steel bracket underneath too) have been deleted btw, so 1 hr job

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That's the ones I was dreading tbh.

My old car had about 4/5 bolts fewer per cylinder head lol

I'm gonna fit a high quality replacement and over torque the bolts slightly, by 1 or 2 ftlbs.

Buggered if these are coming out again lol.
 
Ordered a torque wrench off ebay...
Gonna try to find a full socket set, then order a new gasket from ferriday. (possibly a 1.5mm spacer too.)
 
ah that's a bugga antony :/

normally whenever a cooling system is all working properly, she should be able to stay near 82C in all conditions including idling all day or boosting.

when I saw at services that she constantly ran outa coolant, that didn't sound normal and similar to whenever my cheapo HG used to blow.

sounds like a combination of:
  • undersized, dirty & blocked thin 18mm manual gearbox radiator. before u ordered the civic rad I was gonna suggest buying a 26mm thick Nissen K11 automatic radiator like mine which is a direct fit & handles the heat of +160hp on trackdays all day long no problem.
  • missing head bolt in corner of cyl4 compromising the HG clamping pressure till the fire ring failed (clamp should be perfectly equal, even & flat pressure all around the fire rings).

gasses from blown HG after few drag runs pushes the coolant out, reduce cooling efficiency, irratic temp reading, overheat which then further warps the head into an endless cycle till the oil/coolant seal then fails n mayonnaises.

from my experience I'd advise:
  1. remove head & closely assess the cause (fire ring damage, head/block surface imperfections)
  2. carefully clean off old HG, scraping with new razor blades & brake cleaner till it's all sparkly shiny smooth
  3. check head & deck for warp, skim as required
  4. clean every head bolt thread & hole with M10 tap & die free from any dirt/rust/fluids so they can be perfectly torqued with zero issues.
  5. wipe all residue oil/coolant from all the ports in the head/deck so it doesn't drip & contaminate the HG during fitting.
  6. head & deck must be immaculate & dry
  7. fit a single genuine original Victor Reinz HG, imho the original nissan HG has always been the strongest. my original turbo setup ran completely stock block & HG on loadsa trackdays with little problem.
  8. dab of oil on headbolt threads and dab grease under the bolt washer to ensure smooth uninterrupted torqueing.
  9. follow the nissan torque sequence & values precisely and with all the required bolts this time, don't be lazy skimping.
  10. fit a working/new thermostat
  11. upgrade to a nissen auto rad or higher capacity rad
  12. fit a large enough expansion tank with it's port submerged like the original so u never get any air pockets in the system ever.

I got my eletronic torque wrench with built in gyro angle readout £200 off ebay :) best tool investment :cool:
 
My torque wrench was £18 lol..



Yeah I've never understood why there would be bolts missing.. Hmm....
 
So, looking at the civic rad, doesn't look too far out to be honest.

Three holes and a rad hose.
Easy peasy.

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There are plenty of options for rads on the K11.

I went for a full width starlet radiator, as the hose positions were very close.

SS-RAD-CT9.jpg
 
Was thinking about one of those but the turbo position puts the inlet forward of the rad support horizontal plane.....
 
It not the bumper that's in the way.
It's the turbo inlet. Sits too far forward for a full length rad.

No biggie, this civic one is good for 500hp of cooling duty with a 12" spal fan...
 
My cousin once suggested the same rad but the lower pipe is at wrong side, requires new hose route, and too close in front of front mount. Option was to get it rewelded to the lh position but that's lotsa time n money. Hence why I tried the straight fit k11 Auto rad n was fine.

U got angle reader to set angle torque?
 
Well, the ferriday decompression plate is £119.50 not including a gasket.

The nismo mls gasket is only £120 delivered (albeit from Australia)

Genuine nissan head gasket is £80~

Fai copy gasket set is about the same price.

What to do?




I'm on Mars... Running around trying to find my own head...
 
Nope.....
Lol
Was gonna guess.. Lol

try printing/marking on paper from protractor a 60deg bend to help get u in right area.
the more perfect n accurate you assemble every detail, ie build quality, the closer & better that part will perform upto its original spec duty.
 
I've done it before using the flats on the socket outer surface.

6sides, 60deg a side...
Worked last time.
 
Well, the ferriday decompression plate is £119.50 not including a gasket.

The nismo mls gasket is only £120 delivered (albeit from Australia)

Genuine nissan head gasket is £80~

Fai copy gasket set is about the same price.

What to do?




I'm on Mars... Running around trying to find my own head...

all those are unrequired expensives,
here genuine nissan victor reinz HG like mine £25 :D
http://www.micksgarage.com/proddeta...0_1433159668_c2c668c403402d9dc0f1bebe2b066a22
 
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Radiator, expansion tank and track rod end.

Just awaiting torque wrench and head gasket. And I'll get this bitch sorted.

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It's for a civic. Will take some jiggery-pokery to fit but it's not far off.
Bottom hose is on the wrong side, but should be able to fix it with a hosepipe. Lol.
 
The one I've got was on a 205 turbo and has been shortened and had one of the outlets moved to the top. Ideal for me.
 
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