About a week ago i posted some pictures and some info about the problem i have. A few people told me a need a new head gasket and what was happening. Is installing a new head gasket a pretty big task ? I was already planning to put a new intake on, so once the intake is off, do i have much more work to do to get to the head ? Any tips i should know before i start this project ? I'm pretty new to the game, i'm just trying to not ef up my car. thanx for the help

Also, what are some good intakes to consider. I was looking at Trickflow, and ford racing

 

It's fairly large, the heads have to come off... so it's not a short job, nor one that you should do if you do not have the tools and are mechanically inclined. You're stripping it down enough to get the heads off, placing a new gasket on, and putting it all back together.

If you mean intake manifold by intake, then more needs to come off (well, anything you mean by intake means more has to come off) but if you get the intake manifold off you are relatively close. If you do swap your intake manifold, get an aluminum one, the factory plastic ones are prone to cracking.

 

After you get the intake manifold off, remove the exhaust manifolds/headers, and then the head bolts. The heads come right off. Be DAMN sure you know what you're doing. Torquing the heads correctly is IMPERATIVE! and if you do this, do BOTH sides!


EDIT...
Also note which head bolts go where. I highly recommend replacing the head bolts. They are under a LOT of torque, and sometimes can actually stretch. If this happens, they can lose integrity and snap off either while torquing, or down the road.
Also it's VERY important if you re use the lifters and push rods, they HAVE to go back in the same position they came out of.

 

Do exactly as 03 said and be sure to get the heads checked at a machine shop for warpage too (they can remove the broken header bolts too). Its only about 10 to 20 bucks. When you tighten the heads and intake start from the middle and alternate top to bottom woking your way out, only half torque the first round then fully tighten the second. Same with the intake. Be sure to add silicone on the ends where the intake gasket (heads) meets the block on both the front and back. Be sure to match mark the distributor before removing it. You can take ziplock bags with a marker to keep parts in order. And like he said it is best not to mix up the lifters and pushrods (unless you will be installing a new cam and new lifters, which if you can afford it now would be an excellent time). Then get a feeler guage set to adjust the rocker arms.

 

Yeah get yourself a decent torque wrench too. No autozone or Harbor freight crap, Craftsman at the very very least, But Id think about getting a better one, like an SK or snap on.

www.skhandtool.com
www.snapon.com

Your head bolts will be available from ARP, and they will be better than OEM

Jim

 

What's this least with Craftsman torque wrenches? Snap on are great, but too expensive for the same quality as Craftsman.