jboulukos

Found in Buenos Aires, April 2015

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Welcome! Love the blue!

Thank you for the information regarding the fail safe thermostats...I plan to get a regular 180F thermostat. Here's a list of the parts I will replace. -cylinder head gasket -water outlet gasket -thermostat -exhaust and intake gasket Is there anything else I need or should replace with this head job? Is there a thermostat gasket/any other gaskets?

Pics, videos, ziplock bags with bolts and notes of where everything goes has been consistently completed throughout the process. Excellent, I will do the glass/sandpaper method. Further questions remain: 1. How do i remove the thermostat? just pull it outward? 2. Should I purchase a fail safe thermostat? and at which temp...one is for 160 degrees F, one is for 180 degrees F 3. I would like to clean the head and the rocker arm/springs, should I use a degreaser spray, toothbrush, and water? 4. Are there torque specs for the water outlet?

Here's the water outlet or whatever the metal piece is that covers the thermostat on the front of the cylinder block....I'm concerned about the integrity of the gasket mating surface. It has a significant amount of pitting. Will it be ok to use?

Thanks...yeah, I had detached the metal line that goes around the valve cover since some of the screw for its mounting arms are either attached to the head or share a nut for the exhaust manifold. I reattached items now I'm fine. Today I took the thermostat "housing" off. It looks original. I'll attach pictures soon. I was wondering how to remove the thermostat itself. Also I have loosened the rocker adjuster nuts and rocker assembly bolts and removed the push rods. They are all clean and straight. I believe I have the CA emmisions equipment in the front of the thermostat housing and to the left of it...the pulleys are there but no belt. I plan on taking some of it off although some hoses lead to it too. I'll attach pictures and see what you think. Also at the front of the block there's a little wire leading into the passenger side. What is this?

I took off the metal fuel line leading to the carb. Is there a way to clamp off the fuel hose? Fuel is coming up from the hose coming from the fuel pump.

Are there torque specs for tightening spark plugs in the A14?

Thanks! How do you like to clean your head surfaces to prep for the new gasket?

Ok, the distributer cap and wires come off. Do I leave the spark plugs in the head then? Does the A14 have torque specs on spark plugs? Can I remove the spark plugs with an adjustable wrench? I think Id rather take the head out and have it examined and pressure tested by a machine shop. A shop closeby charges $55 to check the head and milling cost is $75. I gather from reading and researching that its important to make certain the head is flat. I'm not sure this can be done by a beginner upside down without removing the manifold. My rocker arm assembly is covered in slightly thick oil. Besides wiping off the oil with a rag, is there a way to clean it up? (don't have a professional parts cleaner booth)

I made much progress today...getting as far as draining the coolant, removing air cleaner housing and valve cover. I am taking my time with pictures of the little hoses and all other bolts and such. A few more questions remain. 1. Can the distributer cap stay on? How are the start plugs removed? 2. Is the thermostat located at the very front of the head? 3. Do the push rods just pull out or does something need to be loosed first? Are they pulled out from underneath? 4. Where is the temperature gauge connection?

"disconnecting the battery ground cable" ....Disconnecting the negative terminal on the battery is all that is needed here? Is it necessary to drain the engine oil first or can it be done last? My understanding is that the oil will be lower than the head and block when the engine is off and will not be inside the head when I remove it to do the job. I figured I would change the gasket then change the oil. correct? If correct, do I need to re-fill the coolant and engine oil in order to run the car to be able to adjust the valves after changing the head gasket?

How much coolant does the A14 hold?

Also 1. Do I need to loosen the rocker shaft bolts/rocker arm?

4. carb* not car

This is fantastic. I'm researching everything and will do it. A few more questions... 1. I want to make a thread cleaner from an old head bolt as seen on a previous post...How can I obtain an old head bolt that I know fits the car? 2. I have all the sockets, so I'm just going to purchase a basic 3/8 inch clicker type torque wrench and use the correct size socket for the tightening of the head bolts... correct? 3. When draining the coolant, do I just open the bottom of the radiator? 4. So I remove the head with the manifold attached? If so, does this mean I removed the car from the manifold? If so, do I need that little carb to manifold gasket? Thanks...just ordered a valve cover gasket for 7 bucks and about to buy a 3/8 in torque wrench...I'm gathering all the tools/supplies needed.

Excellent. To summarize, the tools needed are sockets for the stated numbers in millimeters and a 3/8 inch socket? What size should the torque wrench be? Or is a torque wrench just a ratchet that you can add different size sockets to?

What size torque wrench?

1. Should the push rods be lifted out prior to unbolting and removing the head? 2. Should I get a feeler gauge to inspect the head? Is warping easy to see with visual inspection? Thanks!

Excellent, here's some questions.... 1. As far as cleaning the head and block surfaces, I have read to "scrape" it clean and then use ether/starting fluid to remove oil. What do you use to scrape off the surfaces? 2. Also, wire brushing the threads of the head bolts is understandable, however how can I clean out the bolt holes? 3. When it says to lightly oil the head bolt threads, is this done with engine oil? 4. I understand to disconnect the battery and drain the radiator coolant. Do I also need to drain the engine oil prior to disassembly, or just change the oil after reassembly and before starting up the vehicle? 5. Are the push rods to be removed prior to unbolting and removing the cylinder head? How is a push rod removed? I know that I will need to label them for reassembly in proper position. Some preliminary questions. Thanks!

Fantastic. I have the 1978 B-210 service manual, Chilton's and another Datsun manual showing pictures and process of an A14 tear down. I have the head gasket and intake exhaust gaskets. I plan to study the guides. Which set of wrenches would you recommend? Which sizes? Much thanks!

Update: I had a mechanic do a few tests on the car. -leak down test -compression test -pressure test of cooling system The mechanic has a reputable shop in the suburbs 1 hour outside of Chicago. He gave me a detailed estimate of head job however recommended a full engine rebuild to ensure that the lower engine will perform well. The cost of the diagnosis/testing plus oil change was $250. The estimate was $4500 for complete engine rebuild with machine shop changes being high. Its times like this i wish I knew someone who knows how to do a head gasket change and has the tools for the work. The mechanic found a significant amount of fluid in the engine oil making it milky grey and explained how this can damage the engine overtime. He suspected that it may be more than a head gasket because of this. Leak down test was less than good with cylinder not holding pressure (forgive me on my lack of knowledge of these tests) His recommendation was to drive it easily home and not to drive it at all due to the leak. The car runs very good overall...besides this coolant leak into the engine. Any thoughts on what to do? I thought a head job on the A14 would be significantly less labor due to small size of the engine, no plastic covers on the engine and overall increased space under the hood. The shop charges $120/hour for labor alone. I understand that having the car sit in the garage is death to the car. I want to be able to drive it in the summer however don't want to cause extra damage or have a dangerous event occur. Any ideas? Know a mechanic in Chicagoland? Will a head job be sufficient? Not wanting to spend more than the car is worth to fix it. The whole point of rocking a B-210 is fun and not spending tons of money to keep it up.

The shops I've contacted were both in the suburbs. I will need to contact more tomorrow.