And now, a word about head gaskets...

It has been recommended (RE: my '88 Supra with an apparent BHG...) that I PARK THE CAR AND PULL THE HEAD!

So, this I will do. Given that once I pull the head the HG is toast even if it's not blown, I obviously have to buy a new one.

I have seen them as low as $17; also $26, with $58 being the usual on-line price. Beck-Arnley wants ~$60, some places advertise Fel-Pro at $58, or $17, or $26. My band's guitar player said yesterday, "Eh, $12, big deal". I told him about the prices I was finding.

Toyota's list is $115; the best on-line price I have found is $85 and the locval dealer will match that.

I'm kinda answering my own question here. The 7M-GE has a nasty habit of blowing HGs, and IIRC the HG was replaced on this car a year before I bought it. he total cost of the job was a shade under $1,000. When I had the valve covers off to replace the gaskets I checked the torque on the head bolts and they were above 68 ft/lbs; the original spec was 58 ft/lbs and a Toyota TSB about BHGs said 72 ft/lbs (IIRC) was recommended, so whoever did the job knew they had to use the revised spec. I'm betting they used and off-the-rack gasket and maybe mostly responsible for why I have to do it again.

So, do I go aftermarket, save a few bucks and perhaps have to do it all again in 7 years or so? The car is now 22 years old. If I do have to do the HG again it will be ~30 years old; it's not in *bad* shape, but it's not a Collector's Item, either.

Or, do I spend the $85 and get the Real Deal and hope things are good enough to get another 80,000 miles out of it (it has ~220,000 now...)?

The thing I SHOULD do, obviously, is pull the engine and have the whole thing refreshed. A local engine guy, who's one of the best in the country quoted me $2200 for complete bottom end refurb, and I know when I get it back it will be one of the best 7M-GEs in the country.

Reply to
Hachiroku
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It's not just the gasket and torque but also the condition of the head and the surface of the head and block, if the old one "embedded" in the head then you will need to address that, Head gasket? Buy the whole set.... cheap,

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Reply to
FatterDumber& Happier Moe

I put a felpro in mine on the blow, first was from toyota. It is still running strong 150K later and I beat on it.

The thing you should consider is getting one from japan, used, always guaranteed at or less than 40K miles on the engine. Comes with pretty much everything. Starter, alternator, another air conditioning compressor etc.

Reply to
Gary L Burnore

Really? How much was it and where did you get it? Did you do this yourself?

Last I saw (Toyota has since removed this lsit from their site. Don't ask me how I stumbled upon it...) was a whole bottom, NEW from Toyota was $2,500!!!!

Reply to
Hachiroku

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eeeee....

My experience with Toyotas has been to replace important parts with Genuine Toyota parts. They had issues with this car and BHGs, so bargain basement stuff is out, for sure. I'd go for a Fel-Pro or other even higher quality gasket (HKS, ie) but to use one of these you REALLY have to polish the surfaces.

Reply to
Hachiroku

Those cheaper ones are probably just the head gasket itself, while the $50+ ones are probably the whole headset.

Reply to
m6onz5a

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It's your money,

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Interesting site,
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Reply to
FatterDumber& Happier Moe

Buy Felpro

The FelPro is at least as good as the original

Reply to
clare

Back in 1989 a factory short block was $2800 Canadian - and that did not include the head, manifolds, timing covers, water pump, or anything. Just bare block with crank and pistons.(and rods)

Reply to
clare

FelPro gaskets are really good. My dad used to sell gaskets and other parts and rebuild engines. FelPro made great gaskets.

Reply to
dr_jeff

Hmmm...I'm hearing of a lot of people using the FelPro with good results.

Reply to
Hachiroku

The fix on the early M engines WAS a Felpro gasket IIRC.

Reply to
clare

call these guys -

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i've used them before - their prices are great, and the product has been excellent. they know what they're doing too.

Reply to
jim beam

Same for the infamous GM V-6 intake gaskets, IIRC.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

jim beam wrote in news:wrudnZPwWrCVMZDRnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@speakeasy.net:

Are those the same people who were importing all those Japanese cars you can't get in North America? I don't just mean the Skyline or variants thereof, cars I'd even never heard of before.

Reply to
chuckcar

don't know. i saw clips there, but not cars.

Reply to
jim beam

DAMN! $595 for an engine!!

I'm going to try to repair this one, but I will remember them if things don't go well...

Replacing the engine will be MUCH more of a PITA than the HG, and the car already has ~220,000 miles on it. If it were only 160,000 I'd go for a new engine and trans (did I mention the tranny has "issues" as well?)

Reply to
Hachiroku

DAMN! $595 for an engine!!

I'm going to try to repair this one, but I will remember them if things don't go well...

Replacing the engine will be MUCH more of a PITA than the HG, and the car already has ~220,000 miles on it. If it were only 160,000 I'd go for a new engine and trans (did I mention the tranny has "issues" as well?)

Reply to
Hachiroku

And the 3.8 Ford V6. (head gaskets and timing cover/water-pump.)

Reply to
clare

maybe on yours, but typically not. you can get a motor out in a couple of hours and back in again in a couple more. stripping a head, cleaning, prepping and measuring, and careful CLEAN reassembly almost always takes a lot longer. on a modern overhead cam motor anyway.

economics and labor both say replace. besides, you've already had the head off this motor once before. if you want, i can explain in detail, but most times, it's hard to get a motor to last well once it's been stripped.

Reply to
jim beam

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