I Need A New Head! Need Advice.

[oakley2002@cox.net]

I took my car to find why there is low compression in the 2nd cylinder. (actaully almost no compression). I watched the mechanic take off the valve cover and test everything... the springs look great, piston seems fine, etc. He said it isn't the head gasket since I only have smoke comming out when the car starts and is accelerating. The mechanic is a friend of my friend's dad and very trusted.

So, he says it looks like I need a valve job. The only problem is that is expensive as hell! It's cheaper just to buy a used head. He will install a head if I get one for only the actual labor charge, which is still $275.

My friend is very good with cars, he's going through all of the auto mechanic classes at school. (high school) I stopped by and asked him if he thinks we can do it, and he said he doesn't see why not... though he hasn't done a head swap yet. So, it will probably be just him and I... maybe some more friends... but he knows more about cars than the rest of us. I figure with all of the tutorials and people we can ask online and off it's worth a try. If we can't I can always just lose $50 and get it towed to the mechanic.

Will we be able to do it? How long should it take? Any special tools? Anyone have any tutorials bookmarked?

Lastly, are there any better heads that I can put on my Sol for better performance?

Guess that wasn't the last thing... my last question is, does anyone have a head they would like to sell me? If not I'm going to turn to eBay.

Thanks!
Joe

 

[xj0hnx]

If you get ahold of a service manual for your car,you should be able to do it no problem.Shouldn't even take that long.But definitely get the manual and study the procedure first,gather all the nescessary parts and tools then jump in.

 

[onetyme_sam]

go to your local pep boys or auto zone and buy a hayne's manual for your car. youll be able to do it yourself. youll save yourself money. may take take some time, but in my opinion, do it yourself and save some money. plus you know what to do next time if it comes up.

 

[lsvtec]

Fuck Haynes.

Helms manuals are worth the extra money. They only cover the one car. They might do several versions of that car, but if you buy a 93 Del Sol manual you only get info on the 93 Del Sol.