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'89 Nissan Bluebird head and head gasket

Hi,

I am trying to persuade myself I may not have to do something, but I am not being very convincing.

Just taken the head off our Nissan Bluebird 1.6 SE Hatchback (carb. engine).

It has been laid up for a year after being relayed home with loss of compression on 2 cylinders.

[I thought the 2 centre ones, but more of this later]

I had a major struggle getting the head off - some gorilla had tightened various nuts etc. - and have now confirmed that the head gasket has gone big time.

Big time as in nothing between cylinders 1 and 2; large chunk of gasket missing.

Having said that, both the block and head look O.K. although they need cleaning.

Spooky bit - the pistons of cylinders 1 & 2 (blown gasket) look as new and shiny as when first manufactured. No nasty carbon from combustion etc.

Pistons 3 & 4 are covered in carbon deposits - grey to black.

None of the valves look burned, although there was some crud around the valves in 1 & 2.

I am trying to persuade myself that I don't have to strip down the head and replace the valve stem oil seals and regrind the valves.

I have turned over the OHC and looked inside each valve seat as the valve opens and they all look O.K.ish (no obvious nasty pitting etc.) but I can't be sure without taking the valves out.

So my choice now is to clean up the faces and slap a £20 head gasket in, or strip the whole thing down and get £60 full gasket set.

[and no doubt strip/break studs etc. getting inlet and exhaust manifolds off]

The thing intriguing me at the moment is why pistons 1 & 2 are so shiny and clean - and does this hint at problems with the head ( I assume water was leaking into the cylinders and 'steam de-coking' them).

So should I just replace the gasket and plan to run the car for 6 months to a year, or just junk it and buy a 'runner'?

Factors to consider:

(1) looking at Autotrader online the car is probably worth less than £400 although one optimistic trade seller wants £899 for a 'G' Reg 1.6LX with

100K on the clock.

(2) It will need a new battery, and probably a couple of tyres, to get through the MOT. Until it goes for an MOT there is no knowing what else might need doing, but the cars are (allegedly) generally reliable. So the risk isn't just £20 vs £60 (and possible problems cause by trying to strip down the inlet and exhaust manifolds).

(3) I could buy a 'runner' with a year's MOT for under £500 (although this is obviously a gamble).

So what are the risks of just putting the head back on with a new gasket?

[If I was a garage, this is probably what I would do for a car of this age. However labour costs are just damaged knuckles and a lot of swearing.]

TIA

Dave R

Reply to
David WE Roberts
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Junk it and buy a runner.

Even in a running state, £400 would be wildly optimistic for it. I'd say it's worth less than half that.

Reply to
SteveH

So what is the cost of scrapping a non-runner?

Someone would have to come and pick it up and take it away.

Reply to
David WE Roberts

If you're lucky it might be free. If not, reckon on anything up to about

50 quid.
Reply to
SteveH

But if he can get it running cheaply, why not keep it?

Bluebirds are dull but very reliable cars; if the bodywork is OK, the mechanics are probably good for a while yet.

Reply to
Steve Burt

Because getting a ticket for it is going to cost more than it's worth.

Reply to
SteveH

Tricky call - with cars in the £100 to £500 price range the cost of 4 new tyres, a battery and an oil change plus an MOT can come to most of the resale value of the car. A full tank of fuel can often tip the balance :-)

So you have the wierd choice of "O.K. these tyres are looking a bit worn, scrap it and buy one with better tyres" against "If I keep the same car at least I have some idea about what may go wrong"

- and just lump tyres, battery etc. in with fuel as normal running costs.

At the moment putting a £20 head gasket on and carefully putting (not slapping) together the engine looks a potentially good option AS LONG AS the head is not banjaxed in any other way.

A complete strip and rebuild of the head may tip the balance in the other direction.

Hence my dilemma.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David WE Roberts

The message from David WE Roberts contains these words:

And depending where you are they'll pay you for it. Scrap prices have risen strongly and if you haggle they'll usually give you £20 or £30 for a collection.

Reply to
Guy King

The trouble is that you don't know what it'll fail it's MOT on, if anything.

IMHO, it's not worth the hassle. It's not just a cheap gasket, it's your time as well.

Given the large number of sub-£500 cars complete with fresh 12 month tickets out there, that's the option I'd take. Especially as you'd also be getting a much nicer, more modern car for your money. Like a Primera, for example.

Reply to
SteveH

That sounds more promising.

A year or so back they were charging to take cars off your hands.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen the usual crop of dumped cars this summer.

Is this because of rising iron/steel prices?

Can't be for the spare parts.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David WE Roberts

The message from David WE Roberts contains these words:

Yes - China is hoovering up scrap like it's going out of fashion. Mostly to build ships to carry even more raw materials to them.

Reply to
Guy King

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