You may remember a thread of mine from earlier this year: Diagnosis Confirmation.

It's time to dig into this car and resolve the problem...I've looked at the threads on pulling heads and there's a lot of great info that I've been able to glean. But, before I jump in, I'd like to hear from 60X gurus about anything they think I need to do or look at while the head is off.

FWIW, I still need to pull the exhaust manifold and confirm the head gasket oil leak at chain gallery/#1 cyl interface.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

have a reputable machine shop check the head for cracks, warpage, any flaws that could pose an issue.

while its out... see how the valves are doing and see if they need any work...

powder coat it?


"while your in there" gets expensive .. but you already knew that

I was thinking of the ancillary items that may not be found in the head gasket kit...etc.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Do the valves, port it and polish it.

Replace the prechambers

Replace the cam and lifters

While you can see them, check the pistons for burned spots and check the cylinders for sealing and 'trueness'

It all depends on how mush $$ you want to throw at it.

Once the head is off it, you might as well do the bottom end too...

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"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

Oh I forgot...

Change the turbo to a VNT.

Check, clean and polish the intake manifold

clean the exhaust manifold


All these things are off so it is easier to do it then.

If yo are pulling the engine, do the rear seal too
etc, etc, etc...

__________________
"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

Get real. This car cost $650; read on...

300SDL
300SDL
300SDL
300SDL
300SDL
300SDL
300SDL
300SDL

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Randy, it's too expensive to consider any head work on that vehicle. The cost would far exceed its value.

I'd just replace the gasket and clean the oil galleries to the cam........as Dave mentioned.........and button it back up.

As soon as you start with the head, you're looking at a $1K by the time you're finished with "while I'm in there.........".

Yeah, it seems like a halfassed fix but that's probably what I'll do. The beast just isn't worth a whole lot of money and time...getting it running for another 20-30k miles would be just fine with me. I'm precariously close to saying 'pi*s on it' and buying a Ford Taurus...oops, was that my out loud voice?

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

I'd do what Brian suggested. If you start digging you will get to $1k+ real fast.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200