Yet Another 3.0 Head Gasket Thread

[Russianblue]

Originally Posted by oldskewel

some random comments:
if you do go that route, even if you already had the $500 TS kit, the 11mm solution will be far easier to implement. Just tapping slightly bigger threads, no need for alignment concerns, no counterboring for the timeserts, installing the timeserts, etc.

this is the crux of it. the BENZ bolts would seem to take a lot less time to implement. I do have a bit of time pressure here unfortunately. but not a TON.

i'm not finding much detail on the Mercedes solution though. among other things... which bolts to use and obviously a verified TTY method. i mean, if you are stretching those bolts to spec, it's going to take a good bit more torque than the stock setup. now you've got two bolts clamping harder than the others. i was originally thinking just use the MB bolts in the repair holes but that might be a bad idea. would probably need to do all of them. so the TTY issue might be a deal breaker in that it takes as much time as timeserting 3 or 4.

so...i suppose the next step is to torque those head bolts again tonight. 40NM + eyeball 90 + eyeball 90. I know i am missing a washer btw...good catch. it disappeared somewhere under the car. I'll find it.

after that, lift the head off and check block and head for warpage. i think this budget is only gonna work out if my existing head is repairable and i can get it skimmed and tested for $200-$300, which i THINK i can. i know i can prob find a junker head for cheap and put all my parts on it but i've rebuilt a 12 valve M20 head before and that's no fun at all.

btw oldskewel, i tried to PM you yesterday to ask you some questions about your experience (namely, re-timing the cams/vanos) but your mailbox is apparently full! i'd love to hit you up with some questions.