This weekend I removed my head, installed the almost new head, ARP studs and a cometic head gasket.
After removing the head I was generally very happy with the condition of the cylinders, hatching still looks good and for 121,xxx kms, I would say the carbon buildup is pretty good.
Before removing the head, I aligned the timing marks per the manual, for reference, here is what the alignment looks like.
I have new timing components on the way; I will leave the water pump undisturbed as it still turns freely. Will I change my mind in the next week? Probably!
The original head gasket was also in OK shape, not that I expected anything different. Here is a photo of the cometic gasket (1mm) and OEM gasket (?mm) side by side.
The cometic gasket bore diameter is a bit over 2mm bigger than the OEM gasket. As mentioned in a previous post – nobody thinks this is an issue. For shits and giggles, I drew up the difference to see it better visually – agreed – no issues.
– 78.5mm ID is the OEM gasket bore
– 81.2mm is the Cometic gasket bore
both as measured
Installing the head gasket and ARP studs was easy enough, I always hate doing up head studs but thankfully I had experience x4 from the Galant. Interestingly, the ZC32S final torque spec per ARP is 75 ft-lb (102 Nm), the Galant was only 60 ft-lb!
