Head gasket set brand recommendations & ?'s re: 89 Cressida head install.

-Any suggestions on brands? Is whatever comes from Autozone, Discount Auto, Napa going to work fine? Any brands to definitely avoid? Apparently the shop that built my engine a couple of years ago used Victor Reinz.

-What about new head bolts? Do the sets normally come with bolts? Or are there better options I should pursue?

-I feel like I should upgrade my torque wrench from the inexpensive bar type I got years ago. I see Home Depot has Husky click torque wrenches for around $70, do you feel it'll do the job? I gather Snap- On's run around $200. I'm sure they're good but would like to save a few bucks if possible to do so and get good functionality on a one-off project.

-I have the shop manual for this Cressida. Should the torqueing order it shows be fine? In a previous thread, someone said they should be final torqued to 70 ft/lbs. Anyone disagree with this?

What would you consider a reasonable cost range for a shop to charge to disassemble, inspect, do a valve job, resurface and reassemble the heads on a carry-in basis?

Any other recommendations/tips will be appreciated. I've installed heads before but not on aluminum heads.

Thanks.

Reply to
Doc
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Fel Pro is good.

Depends on the application.

Home Depot, Sears or Loews should all be fine.

Go with the shop manual. Also read the instructions that come with the gaskets.

$100-200.

Reply to
Jeff

The local machine shop I talked to today was talking around $250 -

300. It's got 24 valves.
Reply to
Doc

That's seems pretty reasonable for 24V.

jeff

Reply to
Jeff

HKS Metal headgasket. Google "1989 Supra Headgasket" These last a long time. Also, check the SOGI website. 59ft/lbs appears to be not enough (was spec'd for an asbestos HG)

Reply to
Hachiroku

ACL are very good, try going to

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Depends of you have "plastic" head bolts or not. if it says to turn x number of degrees as the final step I would get new bolts. I would get a set of head studs if I could afford it anyway.

If you bar type still pulls correct torque why do you fell it needs replacing. But most reputable store should be able to sell you a reasonable one for about the $80 mark. The Snap-on one's are meant to be used every day, the home depot types are meant to be used occasionally.

The manual should be right but a good gasket should also come with the correct sequence and torque figures for that make of gasket. the one in the manual are for the factory gasket, but Toyota can make mistakes.

Depends really on the amount of work needed to be done to the head. $300 maybe.

Make sure you undo the head bolts in the reverse order to tightening them and in multiple steps. alloy heads can bend easily if you are not careful. Also check the block deck for any out of square measurements. no point in butting a flat head back on it the deck is warped or machined wrong.

Reply to
Nick Bourne

I'm all for the OEM gasket kit. That way you have the other 20-25 seals you should replace. But Toyota reemed me for $329.00.

There reusable

Everybody and there brother seems to agree that 58lbs was not tight enough. (mine are 70)

Finding a cause for the BHG helps. Loose head bolts seems to be a common problem for example. Replacing all those small coolant hoses or at least the hard to get to ones might be a good idea. If the head is warped so are the cam journals.

GL Dan

Reply to
Danny G.

I think a metal head gasket requires a special mating surface.

"These last a long time" But then again I never thought head gaskets wear out. 8)

Reply to
Danny G.

How would I know?

How do you do this?

Reply to
Doc

If you are only going to use a torque wrench every great while, and you have the access to read it, stick with the beam type wrench. The only way it can go out of calibration is physical damage to the beam. I check my snappy clickers against my old beams to see if the clickers need calibration.

Reply to
Steve Austin

Specialist tool shops that service tools should have a calibration device that can be used to check it, they usually will do it for free if you catch them on a good day or for a small fee, say $5, as the check procedure only takes a couple of minutes.

The best way I have found is a good set square with a straight edge and a set of feeler gauges. just put the straight edge on the surface of the block and uses the feeler gauges to see if there is a gap or if it changes. Start be going widthways across the block then lengthways down the block. Then check across the bores by going diagonally from bolt hole to bolt hole down the block. Only go across the far corners you need to make sure the surface is as clean as you can before starting. In the manual there should be a procedure and clearances for checking the head, and I use the same for the block deck. The clearance for my 6M engine was 39 thou.

Reply to
Nick Bourne

Well, yeah...

But, the 7M-GE has a couple of 'congenital' problems (or so I've been told).

First was the improper torque at the factory. They spec'd 59F/# for an asbestos gasket, and then switched material to a non-asbestos gasket, and never changed the spec on the floor. So, they got torqued to 59 and failed.

Then, the head "walks" when it gets hot. The front end has a lot more cooling from the fan and the grille, and the rear is stuffed in there next to the firewall with poor air flow. So, if you got the 59 F/# torque, when the head heats unevenly it creates uneven pressure on the gasket and wears it down. (Of course, I'm talking the Supra; I believe the Cressida has a more open engine bay. There's an '89 with 85,000 Florida miles here in town; I'll ask the kid if I can have a look...)

Considering the (actually, minor if handled correctly) problems with this engine, I would use the metal gasket if I'm going to the trouble of ripping the head off, and torque to the revised spec. The metal dissipates the heat more handily and keeps things from rocking.

Reply to
Hachiroku

My Supra's BHG was at the #2 cylinder. But for the life of me I can not see what caused it. The engine is not a turbo, nothing else was bad and the head bolt torque was still correct when I checked during disassembly. The block was flat and the head measured less than 0.0015 in out.

On top of that the car has never been driven without me in it. The engine has never missed a beat or gone above normal temperature.

waaaaaaaaaa Dan

oh ya, what I meant about the metal gasket was something like the lapping in this link.

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Reply to
Danny G.

Lapping *ON* the engine?!?! What do you do, remove the head, install the lapping tool and drive 1500 miles?! That's *MY* kind of lapping! ;)

Reply to
hachiroku

From the Supras BBS:

My 'gasket set' turned out to be a complete overhaul set, so it has abunch of o rings, and all of the valve stem seals and things that I was thinking that I might do as well. I guess that explains why it cost more than I thought it would, besides typical Toyota Parts counter pricing.

My ARP head bolt set turned out to be a stud set. I guess I'll just have to settle for ARP studs instead of bolts. (Gee, tough luck, huh?)

I'm just going to put in a Toyota OEM head gasket. I ran out of budget before getting to an HKS head gasket. I figure though that the OEM gasket should be fine with adequate torque. Also, since I'm not machining the head or block (Well, not PLANNING to) I figure the OEM gasket might have a better chance at sealing with whatever minor imperfections might be present. If needed though, I have clients with machine shops, and I might be able to ask a favor... ___________________________

The "stud set" refers to the items that a lot of people with 7M-GEs use instead of bolts. You insert the studs and use nuts to hold the head on. I guess they're reusable with new nuts. Frankly, if I'm going to all that trouble, I'm gonna try to make sure it's done right the first time, and just use bolts (the bolts are $6-9 each depending where you get them...)

Reply to
Hachiroku

o rings, and all

well. I guess that

settle for ARP

getting to an

adequate torque.

able to ask a

Those are for the turbo engines with 2x or 3x more power than stock.

Reply to
Danny G.

o rings, and all

well. I guess that

settle for ARP

before getting to an

adequate torque.

figure the OEM

able to ask a

Well the head shouldn't walk then.

Reply to
Nick Bourne

o rings, and all

well. I guess that

settle for ARP

getting to an

adequate torque.

figure the OEM

able to ask a

I think you still shouldn't reuse the stud set. I think the problem is that problem is that the long part of the bolts or studs stretch, not the part with the threads.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

Stud sets and bolts are basically the same thing. The only functional difference between bolts and studs is that studs are two parts and bolts are one part.

Reply to
Jeff

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