As some of you know, my intake manifold is having some trouble coming off.. so Im just taking the drivers side head off first, then the passenger side with the intake manifold attached. I took 17 bolts out of the head and one in the rear that had some grounds and air tubing on it. Is there anything else? This is the first time that the head have been taken off, are they just stuck on really well?

All the intake bolts are gone except on the other head, are there any bolts hiding behind the engine? what a bitch that would be.. I had a fun time getting the grounds off the back with all those three inches of space.

 

17 bolts is all there is. Here's a tip, put intake bolts into the front and rear of the head in the accessory holes to give you convenient handles. Iron head weigh ~50 lbs, it won't move by itself, you have to give it a good pull.
...ed

 

i had problems getting my heads off, if you're VERY CAREFUL you can pry the head off..

i believe on either the front or rear of the heat there's a half tab that I used, i got a wide flat screwdriver and rotated it like I was tightening a screw and it broke loose..

remember that there are the 2 locating dowels that are holding it in as well so you may have a bit of rocking to do once you get it loose..

good luck!

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Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org

 

like colin asid those to dowels might give you some problems if the intake is still on. you might have to lossen the intake to head bolts to clear them. good luck

Jim

 

Thanks guys, I just finished taking all the pushrods and rocker arms off, got every bolt out of each head. I already have some intake bolts stuck into the front of the heads where the accessories mount. I'll be back when I break something!

 

Definitely pry the head up first otherwise you may end up with more broken parts (dowel pins). Using a screwdriver and tapping it with a hammer close to the front lower edge of the head to mash the gasket there and break the head loose is not a bad idea.

 

Easiest way to pry the heads off is to stick a pry bar or large screwdriver in the exhaust crossover passage and pull up. This will pull the heads off the dowel pins. I've never had one I couldn't pry off this way.

DOH! (a few messages down) Yes I did miss that.

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Follow my racing progress on Stephen's racing page
and check out the race car

87 IROC-Z SuperPro ET Bracket Race Car
461 naturally aspirated Big Block

Best ET on a time slip: 11.242 altitude corrected to 10.89
Best MPH on a time slip: 121.52 altitude corrected to 125.89
Altitude corrected rear wheel HP: 497.9
Best 60 foot: 1.546

Racing at 3500 feet elevation but most race days it's over 5000 feet density altitude!
Member of the Calgary Drag Racing Association

87 IROC bracket car, 91 454SS daily driver, 95 Homebuilt Harley

[This message has been edited by Stephen 87 IROC (edited July 17, 2001).]

 

crank the engine over with the starter. engine compression will break it loose. If you pry on the ports you will break it, and it will be ruined

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CMSII

 

I know you missed it, but that would work great if his intake was actually off

 

remove all the head bolts from both heads and crank the durn engine over!!! i am an engine builder, I swear to god if the spark plugs are in the heads will FALL OFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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CMSII

 

So am I.

 

I pried the drivers side head up from above the water pump connection in the block, there was a nice little spot that worked well. After that I put a few bolts in each side of the passenger side head(two in front, one in back) and lifted it loose, removed the back bolt and just held onto the intake and it lifted out nicely. Now I just need to remove the stripped intake to head bolt somehow.

It looks like the frontmost two pistons on the passenger side have white scales on them, what caused that? Where can I buy scotch brite pads(or something else that will work) that I can use in my drill or dremel to clean off the pistons?

Any advice on changing the cam? Im going to order/buy some roller tipped rockers tomorrow, and the cam is on its way. I was also going to order the serpentine swap kit from some place in florida, would it just be easier to leave everything apart until that comes? I may have found a 350 block(mine is a 305) so Im gonna look at it in a couple days, maybe I will just pull out this 305 =p How can I tell if it is a roller block?

 

okie, lemme answer some of your questions:

i told you there was a good place to pry on

a head rebuilder should be able to get that stud out if you're scared of toying with it further..

the scaley stuff i would presume to be cylinders that were running lean? rather than be a brownish color they are running hot either from too hot of plugs or not enough a/f mixture.. unless your engine cratered (ie. blew a head gasket) this should be somewhat normal..

for the brush i went over to Home Depot and bought a wheel for my drill. I made sure it wasn't a course wheel but one of the softest they had. You want to clean off the top of the piston not grind it. While I ground it I had a vacuum cleaner sucking up all of the shavings, seemed to work good. I would then take a small magnet and go around the top of the piston to get any shavings or anything and then wipe it with a clean towel with gas on it. I would rotate the engine a bit and clean the rest. Once I was positive that cylinder was clean I dipped a clean shop towel into some fresh oil and wiped the cylinder town and rotated the engine over to get the oil all over the rings.

if your car didn't come with a roller cam (ie. 86 and older) you will need the lifters with link bars so that they don't turn in the bores. You'd be wise to look around for a roller block as it will also have the better-designed one piece rear seal.

You can tell a roller block by looking at the top of the oil gallery. I'm including a link to my engine swap pictures so you can see what i'm talking about: www.IROC-Z.org/newpics

as you can see, there is a "spider" that pushes down on plates to hold the lifters in their bores straight.

if you have any other questions ask away, i'll try to help

ttyl man,
Colin



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Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org

 

Nice car Colin, I have an 87 iroc as well. I didn't see the "brown guy," though. Is yours a 305 or a 350?

I think I can get a grip on the bottom of the bolt with a pair of vice grips from the underside of the intake manifold, we'll see. If something bad happens I'll just have to buy a performance intake manifold :P

 

well, the brown guy 'was' my friend, he's a dink so i told him to hit the road..

my car is a 305tpi/a4/G92 with the 3.27 gears..

it goes alright, i rebuilt the motor but used all the original parts, even has the original cam.. all i did was balance it..

i also have an '86 IROC, that's the one i'm having trouble with..

hot dman man, i love my plates "86IROCZ" and "87IROCZ"

i love these cars man,s eriously.. even though my '86 is being a serious BIT**



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Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org