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 We had an email today from Mick asking if we could do a ‘how to’ on replacing a head gasket on the overhead cam six cylinder engines found in EA to EL Falcons. I did have a Falcon engine here up until a few weeks ago that would have been perfect to photograph each step but with room in the garage at a premium we decided to send it to the scrap heap so I will do my best with the limited pictures I have.

If your vehicle is an early 1998 EL Falcon please read the update to the TIMING CHAIN SETTINGS.

 First thing’s first, special tools required for the job.

• NEW SET OF HEAD BOLTS - DO NOT RE-USE THE HEADBOLTS. The head bolts used are what they call ‘torque to yield’ and basically stretch to a pre-determined length when first fitted and cannot be used again. We have had to replace more than one Falcon head gasket were someone had refitted the old bolts and you are lucky if it lasts more than a month or two with the old bolts put back in! Not a good result.
• A quality torque wrench.
• Torque angle gauge - not absolutely necessary but does help in tensioning the head bolts down correctly.
• 3mm long shaft allen key for releasing the timing chain tensioner or a small punch and hammer can be used to remove the tensioner retainer as a means of loosening the chain.

• A couple of plastic zip ties to secure the timing chain to the sprocket before removing the sprocket bolt. Yeah, see, they do come in handy!
• A permanent marker to number each spark plug lead as they are taken off, will save frustration later on.
• A variety of sockets, spanners, screwdrivers etc.

 I’ll run through each step in point form, I think that is easier for everyone to read.

• With the car away from the area that you will be working in, remove the bottom radiator hose at the radiator end and allow to drain.
• Move the car to your workspace.
• Remove the negative battery terminal.
• Remove the exhaust manifold. The heatshield needs to come off first and from memory I think all the bolts are 13mm. Check to see that there is sufficient clearance between the cylinder head and exhaust manifold to be able to remove the head. It may be necessary to loosen any clamps further down the on the exhaust system to achieve this clearance.
• Remove the accelerator cable. On single point injection engines it will be necessary to remove the air filter housing first.
• Now for the fun part! Remove all 10mm bolts that hold the intake manifold to the cylinder head and remove the bolts that hold the thermostat housing to the head. Particularly on Multi-Point engines this job can be a right royal pain in the backside. It may be necessary to jack the front of the car up and place it on chassis stands and remove some of the bolts from underneath. A 1/4 inch drive socket set comes in handy here also.
• Number and remove the spark plug leads. Bring them over to the intake side of the engine and let them sit on the intake manifold.
• Remove the PCV hose from the top of the tappet cover and the breather hose from the rear passengers side of the tappet cover.
• Remove the four 13mm bolts holding the tappet cover down.
• Remove the tappet cover from the engine. This can also be a little dicey, as the tappet cover comes up it will hit on the firewall and you need to angle it to get it out.
• Remove the power steering pump by removing the bolts that attach it to the cylinder head but keep the hoses attached and simply move it to the side of the engine bay out of the way.
• At this stage it would be wise to set the engine on to top dead centre, firing on number one. Rotate the crankshaft until the timing marks on the timing cover and the mark on the harmonic balancer line up. Check to see where the cam lobes of number one cylinder are facing. If they are facing down the engine is firing on number one. If they are facing up and close to the rocker arms you need to turn the engine another 180 degrees as it is firing on number six.

• Fit the plastic zip ties around the timing chain and through the holes in the sprocket to keep the timing lined up. Two or three zip ties will do the job. No, seriously!
• You will now be able to see the plug and retainer for the timing chain tensioner. There are two ways to loosen the tensioner, although the first way is the recommended one and the second is a way that I found I could do it without the necessary allen key. The first way is to remove the 13mm ‘plug’ and remove the filter that is inside the retainer with a piece of wire with a small hook in the end of it. Using the long shaft 3mm allen key, insert it through the tensioner plug hole, push and turn the tensioner cam sleeve clockwise until it locks. Ensure that the chain is now loose by pushing gently on the chain on the side that the tensioner is located to see if it is slack. If not, go back and repeat these steps.

• The second way is to loosen the retainer by using a small punch and hammer fitted into the holes in the retainer and once loose should be easily screwed out by hand. When using this method pressure needs to be kept on the tensioner down inside the timing case so that it doesn’t slip past the chain guide and fall into the sump. I use a long screwdriver and gently push the chain towards the drivers side of the car as the tensioner is coming out. Once the complete tensioner is out you can then use a 3mm allen key to lock it in the retracted position by pushing and turning in a clockwise direction.

• Remove the 10mm bolt that secures the upper part of the timing chain tensioner to the cylinder head. It is the bolt that you see at the front of the head.
• Insert a lever through one of the holes in the camshaft sprocket to stop it from moving and undo the sprocket retaining bolt.
• Remove the sprocket and chain from the camshaft (with zip ties still attached) and allow it to rest in the front of the cylinder head.
• Time to loosen the cylinder head bolts. The recommended sequence is in a spiral starting with the bolts at either end and working towards the middle. This sequence is important to follow to avoid warping the head as the bolts come undone.
• Once you have the bolts out throw them as far away as possible so you are not tempted to re-use them! Just kidding, putting them in the bin should do.
• Have someone help you remove the cylinder head from the engine.

 Assembly is basically the reverse of this procedure with attention paid to the following;

• Ensure all of the gasket surfaces are clean and all traces of the old gasket have been removed. I am a bit old school when it comes to this and prefer to use a single-sided razor blade over those flash air sanders. The abrasive pads on the sanders can tend to dig in a bit if you are not careful. Each to their own though!
• Ensure that the two locating dowels are positioned in the block and ensure that the replacement gasket lines up correctly with the coolant passages and oil galleries.
• The cork gasket that goes between the cylinder head and the timing cover needs to have plenty of sealant on both sides to avoid oil leaks. A silicone gasket maker such as Ultra Blue works well, but without it oil will leak from here in time.
• I also suggest using a non-hardening sealant such as Loctite No. 3 around the intake port holes on the intake manifold gasket and particularly on the thermostat housing to cylinder head gasket. The alloy is not real thick here and coolant seepage is common without a sealant being used.
• At the very least have the cylinder head checked for straightness and the surface machined if any irregularities are found.
• Lightly oil the threads and under the heads of the new cylinder head bolts before fitting. If available run the correct size tap down the threads in the block and blow out with compressed air.
• Tighten the head bolts to the specifications given on the gasket set. If in doubt ask the supplier, they should have this information for you.
• As a guide the torque setting is usually 40Nm for step one and then 90 degrees, in the sequence shown in the picture.

• When fitting the camshaft sprocket to the camshaft ensure that the locating pin on the camshaft sprocket engages with the slot in the camshaft.
• Once again use a lever through one of the camshaft sprocket holes to hold it secure while tightening the retaining bolt. The retaining bolt should be torqued to 50 Nm. DO NOT FORGET this step, I have seen the results of a camshaft sprocket retaining bolt left loose and it wasn’t pretty! Every valve bar two were bent.

 I think that just about covers it. If you any problems or queries about doing this job please send me an email to autofix@aapt.net.au and I will do my best to help you out.

Craig

 With Mechanical Repairs off my list of things to do for a while due to ongoing problems with my back I thought I would do a tutorial on what I know about Re-Painting a car. No, I am not talking about getting a tin of Mission Brown Enamel and the widest brush you can find like old Fred did down the road!

 The real key to achieving a successful repaint is in the preparation. Sure it is hard, labour-some (is that even a word?) and you will feel like just skipping this part and throwing some paint on but trust me, if you take the time to prepare the car properly you will be rewarded with a good result.

 The first thing to do is to decide on which type of paint you are going to use for your re spray. The most commonly used paints today are 2 Pack and Acrylic Lacquer. Acrylic is by far the easiest and safest for the ‘car handyman’ to use however here are some pro’s and con’s of each to help you decide.

Acrylic Lacquer Pro’s

1. Relatively easy to apply.
2. Dries in minutes.
3. Easily sanded back and touched up when you strike trouble
4. Used with a clear-coat over the top and then buffed and polished can produce an awesome finish.
5. Lends itself well to being lightly sanded between coats.
6. Is not as harmful on your health, although precautions still need to be taken.
7. Over-spray is easily removed
8. Cheaper to buy, although you need more of it.

Acrylic Lacquer Con’s

1. Has to be ‘buffed’ and polished to achieve a good shine.
2. Is not as chip and scratch resistant as 2 Pack.

2 Pack Pro’s

1. Has a shine straight off the gun, great for areas that are hard to polish such as engine bays and door jambs.
2. Is very hard and scratch/chip resistant once set.

2 Pack Con’s

1. Can only be used in a controlled environment such as a spray booth and must be used with a fresh air breathing apparatus.
2. In my opinion is harder to achieve a nice flat finish with, could just be me though!
3. Used in ambient temperatures can take hours to dry and the car needs to be kept dust and insect-free during this time.
4. Over-spray is hard to remove, particularly from your garage-come-spray booth floor, not to mention the washing machine, dryer, laundry sink, you get the picture! She is still not over that one.
5. Is difficult to ‘touch up’ and usually requires the affected panel to be completely re sprayed.
6. Once set is a bi*ch to sand out any runs or blemishes.
7. Is more expensive as a hardner, thinner and of course the paint itself needs to be bought.

 As you can see, Acrylic is really the only choice for the ‘car handyman’ however in a lot of places spray booths can be hired out for a day or more if you are set on using 2 pack. Sure saves a lot of work on setting up your own booth and breathing gear and still forgetting to cover important white goods.

 For ‘How To Re-Paint A Car’ Parts Two and on we are going to re spray a VN Commodore that has been sitting around for a while. We are going to use Acrylic Lacquer with a clear coat over the top. The clear coat is necessary in this case as the colour is a metallic silver and the clear is required when painting with metallics.

 In Part 2 we are going to start the preparation, taking the flaky clear coat off and straightening out any dents we find along the way. We will also be sanding between coats and generally doing anything we can to see if we can get a finish from Acrylic that comes close to the finish that can be achieved using 2 Pack, bit of a trial and error learning curve for us and hopefully some useful information for you at the same time.

 I am going to put a picture up here of my Commodore that I painted in 2 pack about twelve months ago and once the VN is done I will put it’s picture up alongside to see how we went. Not that pictures do justice to what’s been done but hopefully it will give you a better idea of what can be done with each of the different types of paint. The picture of the blue VK was taken about a day after the painting was finished and the paint has not been touched at all, straight off the gun and covered in a lot of dust. This is the advantage of 2 pack and I’m sure we will have a lot of polishing to do on the VN to get it anywhere near this. It will be interesting to see though.

Part Two, albiet a bit late can be found here.

Craig

 Europe looks set to be the next country to receive the Tata Nano. Tata’s head of Small Car Projects stated that they won’t be exporting the current model, however in five years the second-generation Nano will have been developed and will be good enough for the European market.

 The second generation Nano will be in a different form, at a different price and will meet the tough Euro 5 emission regulations as well as all relevant crash standards. A promise of an improvement in the Nano’s already impressive fuel consumption from 47 to 78 miles per gallon has also been laid down.

 I say good on Tata for setting such a goal for the little ‘city’ car, they certainly are ambitious, but I do wonder how the second generation car will be priced considering the changes that will have to be made to meet the stringent emission standards and crash safety standards? The selling point of the first generation car seems to be focused around the fact that many people in India will see the car as a cost-effective alternative to a motorcycle and obviously the European market is a completely different kettle of fish.

 I think also that the people of Europe would be accustomed to having their vehicles available with a variety of features and options and sure, for the price of the first generation car you could easily over-look a few creature comforts for the sake of economical motoring but will the second generation car be priced low enough to lure people away from the mainstream brands that they currently buy? Or will the Nano be up-specced enough and priced low enough to compete in the European small (micro) car market? Only time will tell I guess.