ok, well picked up a Tm magna cheap, it has a blown head gasket and im looking at changing it myself, ive never done this before so its more of a learning expirience but was curious if any one has any hints or tips? i will be doing this in a week or so, heh, if any one wants to come and give me a hand :p i could pay you in beer and food? hehe

so any tips?

Cheers

easy as pie man :D

No idea how to do it. But get yourself a gregory's manual. They are worth their weight in gold and then plus some.

Read each procedure throughly and plan to get what you need in advance (especially tools). Then read it again and again and then give it go!

The question you might want to ask is whether there was any other damage caused by the damaged head gasket (eg. damage to the heads/valves?), and what should you be checking at the same time. Again no idea and I wonder if anyone else could shed some light on this.

they are a real bastard to do on a car with a chain, enjoy, change the timing chain while your there and oil pump.

I have helped a mechanic do a head gasket for a EA Falcon while I was on work experience... It's pretty straight forward (just a little bit fiddly at times, with getting tools in to do up bolts, etc) a manual will help you for tourque settings for the bolts, etc

just don't cut corners, like trying to reuse the rocker cover gasket... my mate learnt that one the hard way lol

I say give it a go...

Cheers,
Bill

ps, gaskets on a 202 holden red motor are easier than a falcon... i watched my mate change one on his Kingswood... so i reckon an astron can't be too hard except for the chain

ps, gaskets on a 202 holden red motor are easier than a falcon... i watched my mate change one on his Kingswood... so i reckon an astron can't be too hard except for the chain
It's fiddly around the chain, but it's easy to do. Try to find out why it blew in the first place, though. Mine didn't blow, I had to check the cylinder bores.

same as sigma my record is 70 mins on and off running :D

Beware Of The Dreadded Ratchet Chain Tensioner That Some Are Fitted With, Ps I Did A Sigma Head In 55 Mins A Few Years Ago...i Was Pissed Off With The Car So Maybe That Helped

Ps I Did A Sigma Head In 55 Mins A Few Years Ago...i Was Pissed Off With The Car So Maybe That Helped
I pulled the rods and pistons and did the rings on a old laser in 3 hours... that i was pretty stoked about :D

then the clown snaped it around a tree a week later :mad: