mk 1 head gasket... how hard can it be?

[deskpotato]

Hi guys, my little mk1 has blown its head gasket.... ridiculous quotes for repair on what is a $1000 car at the end of the day. however, since owning it i have put a lot of love and money into this car and was wondering just how hard is it to replace a head gasket?

i hear a lot of talk thrown round in the forum thats its very easy, but the mechanic i spoke to feels differently. he was saying that it may require "shims" to fit or the new gasket will just blow again. he also said there would be many parts that would also need replacing such as bolts, other gaskets etc.....

however, this car has a 9 month old head.. thats a NEW head which cost over $900 so im skeptical about his "shim" claims... also, he offered to buy it from me which also leads me to thinking that the engine may not be in such bad condition.... conversely, he did advise me that owning an older diesel car is not a great idea as repairs are expensive and i would be better off buying a 4 cylinder petrol car, which is good advice, but i would greatly miss the fuel savings from running this car, its paid for itself in cheap running and would continue to do so if fixed.

are there any walkthrough pages anyone knows of on how to change a head gasket? i have some mechanical aptitude but not a lot... is this surgery too much for a novice to attempt?

any help would be greatly appreciated... also, please only reply if you are sure you know what you are talking about, ie: you have done this before, yourself.... cheers, will.

[Jarred]

Honestly. I don't know all the ins and outs. BUt this is what I do know.

You should replace the head studs(/bolts) when you do a head gasket. There is a specific process involved with the way you tighten up the bolts when you put the head back on. (should be detailed in your haynes or similar manual)

The head it self should generally be skimmed before you put it back on. although you have a new head, so this mightn't be needed. The skim is to level out the head to get rid of any "warping" and deformation that has occoured to the head. This should be about $50 bucks at a machine/engineering shop.



Taking the off head doesn't seem hard, and really isn't. but there is a bit of work involved. If it's the first time you've done it, it'll take up most of an afternoon IMO.

Remove the timing belt cover and timing belt isn't difficult. Just make sure you put the head back on the same way as you took if off, just do it's easier to do the timing once the engine is back together.
You will need to remove the inlet and exhaust manifolds, which is a bit tricky, but defiantly do able. You might need replacement gaskets for these manifolds.
Removable of various bits of cooling hoses and thermostats etc.
Then pop off the cam cover/rocker cover, and you'll see the 10 head bolts that need to be taken out. They're torqued up fairly well, (or should be atleast) so it'll help to have a torque arm/pole handy to crack them.

That's just removing the head. I've done it a few times myself on some junker engines, so I'm getting pretty good at it. I just havn't put one back on yet! hahahha. so unfortunately that's where my advice stops.


I'm sure someone else will be able to pick up where I left off. I think you should be able to do it yourself though.


Off topic but; How did the wiper motor conversion go?

[deskpotato]

thanks jared, i forgot to mention also that this car is a DIESEL. sounds like the same would apply however, maybe except for timing?

the wiper motor went very well indeed, soldered the new one up and it worked very well... doesnt seem that much faster than the mk1 one tho..... but still, keeps the rain outta the way... cheers.

[Jarred]

Yea, I got half way through and remebered that you had a diesel. I figure it'll be pretty similar process though..

I've only fiddled with pertrol donks, for ref.

[Golf Loon]

Ask this question in the diesel section mate.
I would do a petrol head in my sleep, but wouldnt mess with the diesel.