I pick up cars and fix them up for re-sale. I hadn't gotten a head gasket job yet and knew that eventually I would have to do one. It was a mental barrier for me, so I was actually excited/nervous about doing my first job. I felt that once I did my first one then I could pick up cars that need HG jobs in the future instead of passing.

The car was overheating slowly and the PO was told by Pep Boys that a radiator would fix it up. Because it was loosing coolant I figured I just go ahead and pull the head.

After I pulled it I dropped it off at a machine shop and it was not warped. I just had it resurfaced and look how much nicer it looked! The new gasket is below it.

The next picture is the preinstall pic. And finally the last pic is after it was installed. I also got a new valve cover gasket to finish the job up. Since it was all apart I put on a new timing belt as well. Also replaced cap and plug wires.

Then I fired it up. Well the damn thing started overheating! I had put a new thermostat in there before pulling the head just in case. The water pump wasn't making any noise or leaking that I could see. I had also replaced the pressure cap. So I went back down and got another thermostat and this time it ran just like it should. So the first thermostat I got was faulty out of the box!

Anyway, I was excited about it. But my wife thinks I'm nuts taking pictures of all this. I heard her whispering to my company "He's taking pictures of this." I thought some of you here might see the fun in it.

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1994 C 280 117.5k, White (Good as new)
1997 Toyota Camry 149k Miles (Not so pretty anymore)

1990 190e 2.6 95k (Sold-Should not have)
1981 240d Stick ??? Miles...sold