JonathanDB
New Member
I recently had a head gasket blow on my '98 civic EX and decided to do all the work myself and save $1200 in labor costs at the auto shop. I am not very experienced with cars, but I know how engines work and have done a little work on my dirtbike and such.
I had a friend help me, and with the help of the service manual and Andrew's awesome writeup here: https://hondaswap.com/general-tech-articles/how-change-head-gasket-lots-pics-71528/. I was able to get the head off, get it resurfaced at a machine shop (very warped) and clean everything up.
My car is now all torn apart in my shop and I have the gaskets, and am just waiting on an exhaust manifold to arrive (found it was super cracked) before I put it back together. I have two questions:
A. I am worried that the machine shop might have moved the cam and therefore my timing would be off. How do I get make sure the timing is right?
and B. I'm unsure about bolting my head back on. Are my headbolts fine the way they are? I would really not rather spend another $50 on new head bolts. Also, how do I clean my bolt holes out in case coolant or oil spilled in when I removed the head?
I would really appreciate any and all help! And again, thanks to Andrew for his writeup. That writeup is how I found this site and why I joined.
I had a friend help me, and with the help of the service manual and Andrew's awesome writeup here: https://hondaswap.com/general-tech-articles/how-change-head-gasket-lots-pics-71528/. I was able to get the head off, get it resurfaced at a machine shop (very warped) and clean everything up.
My car is now all torn apart in my shop and I have the gaskets, and am just waiting on an exhaust manifold to arrive (found it was super cracked) before I put it back together. I have two questions:
A. I am worried that the machine shop might have moved the cam and therefore my timing would be off. How do I get make sure the timing is right?
and B. I'm unsure about bolting my head back on. Are my headbolts fine the way they are? I would really not rather spend another $50 on new head bolts. Also, how do I clean my bolt holes out in case coolant or oil spilled in when I removed the head?
I would really appreciate any and all help! And again, thanks to Andrew for his writeup. That writeup is how I found this site and why I joined.