Need some Expierence Advise for a rookie.

[jfrank133]

Hello everyone, I need some Expierence advise about my truck, I have a 87 chevy scottsdale with a 305 ingine, one of the head gasket went out. Now my question is how hard would it be for a rookie that has never done this type of job, take out the motor and fix the head gasket, would it be to hard for someone that has never done this type of work to fix this problem. I have the automotive repair manual to guide me. please tell me if it can be done or if im really going over my head. Will there be some type of work that i would need some special tool to use in the process. please let me know. JFrank

[79C10]

No special tools that i can think of except a tourqe wrench, engine lift and engine stand. As long as you go slow and follow the book you should be fine I personaly would change both head gaskets and maybe a few other gaskets will you have the motor out because some of the gakets are alot easier to change with the motor on the stand. just mo $.02

[jfrank133]

yes, i will be taking the motor out, first i must figure how to do it, like i said i never done this before, but im willing to break my head and do it.

[rolson1039]

youve got alot of ambition here it seems to want to work on the truck so my advice is to go for it. if you need help just post away here and they guys here will help you out as needed. pulling a motor is not that hard... and if ya have another body that can help you out it makes it alot easier.. actually lining up the motor for the install is worse than getting the old one out.. if you only need head gaskets why pull out the motor tho you could work on it right in the truck, and its a good deal easier than pulling out the motor. like the other fellow said you need a motor hoist and stand a torque wrench standard and metric sockets a couple of extensions and basic hand tools. The books are also very good for helping. id also buy some long labels and make sure you label things where they go and all the worst is the vacuum lines. i also find it easier to unbolt the manifolds from the block and leave them hooked to the ehxaust than to try and pull the nuts off the manifolds to the Y pipe. there are quite a few texan members here im sure you could find someone here to even come by and help you if you needed it

[1FaastC10]

Originally Posted by rolson1039

why pull out the motor tho you could work on it right in the truck, and its a good deal easier than pulling out the motor.

yes and no. leaving it in place eliminates the work of actually pulling it out, but working on it in the engine bay is a major PITA.

[Blue Beard]

Welcome to the board from SW Washington State...

[jfrank133]

thanks for all the advise, i will be working on it, and keep yall post it, well see how i do.

[badone07]

Why pull the motor for head gaskets? Easier to just drop the inner fender wells & pull the hood, if you're not able to yank them over the fenders. There is no way I'd be pulling the motor for a head gasket swap. Moreover, I would just do both gaskets while you're at it and have most of the topend off. Who knows how soon the other may go.

[DirtyBurb86]

If you decide to do it, I would definitely recommend followinr rolson's advice regarding labeling the parts, especially the nuts & bolts. Last time I pulled a head (on my honda unfortunately) I got a bunch of small ziploc baggies and used them to place nuts & bolts in (i.e: Exhaust manifold bolts in one bag, alternator bolts and brackets in another). I used masking tape on the baggies and wrote the name of the components on each. This made the re-installation simple and, if I had not done that, I would have had a much more difficult time. Good Luck.

-Shawn

[jfrank133]

this is great advice, i think i will leave the motor in and work on it like that. I will diffinately use the baggies DirtyBurb86, i would of never thought of that. Thanks for all the information.

[80BIG10]

jfrank133...Like you I am a rookie on these things but learning on the way. What part of town are you in?

[badone07]

You also might want to make a set of guides to drop the heads back on the block. This way you don't damage the new gaskets. Not necessary, just makes things a little easier.

[Ric83]

Welcome to the board. Good to see another here from ATown. I say go for it. There has been a lot of good info and tips on here to really make things easier for you. It will deff be worth the satisfaction when you are done. Look at it this way, you have to start sometime.

I just did a timing chain swap for the first time ever not too long ago on my dad's truck w/ help from the guys on here. It was awesome to hear and see her run afterwards and know that I did it.

[jfrank133]

Live near Benwhite and Burleson road. Thanks for all the advice.

[Tx Firefighter]

Your 87 is fuel injected right?

Those TBI engines are dead simple to work on compared to the smogger engines a few years earlier.

Definitely easier to leave the engine and pull the heads off with it in the truck. I've done a bunch of this type of work when I was a line mechanic at the dealership. If you get hung up, send me a PM and I'll try to help you out if I can.

An experienced guy could do both head gaskets in about 5 hours or so. Since it's your first time, figure on a weekend. Adjusting the valves and stabbing the distributor back in are the two areas that usually give a newbie the most trouble.

[jfrank133]

Hello Tx Firefighter, yes my truck is fuel injected, and it looks preatty easy to work on, i just had to find the gutts and do it, but it should be this weekend. thanks for the help.