1G-2G head swap..any tips, do's and dont's...

[BLITZ SPYDER]

Well, got my 1G head back from the machine shop today...my questions is for folks that have done this swap before..any advice? i'm putting this head onto my '97 M/T 2G block. The following is my main parts list : ARP head bolts, HKS 1.0 metal head gasket, new OEM intake & exhaust manifold gaskets, valve cover gasket, timing belt, hydraulic tensioner and water pump, i'm I missing anything?

 

[UltraImports]

Since it's off.....I say get the rest of the new seals, gaskets, etc. Cam seals, O rings, etc. Can't say it's necessary, can say it's nice to use new stuff when you can.

 

[Tevenor]

Bolt the intake on the head before installing the head. Same goes for taking the other one out (Leave it on until the head is out of the car).

 

[blackawdturbo]

Originally posted by BLITZ SPYDER
Well, got my 1G head back from the machine shop today...my questions is for folks that have done this swap before..any advice? i'm putting this head onto my '97 M/T 2G block. The following is my main parts list : ARP head bolts, HKS 1.0 metal head gasket, new OEM intake & exhaust manifold gaskets, valve cover gasket, timing belt, hydraulic tensioner and water pump, i'm I missing anything?

Check and replace the crank damper pulley if necessary. Wouldn't want that to shred apart and take out your new belts/head.

 

[BLITZ SPYDER]

what about run-in prob's? does everything line up, I checked out a couple a sites mainly RRE, but what i'm looking for are for folks on this board that have done the swap. Have you run into unforseen problems..like a bolt doesn't fit or this harness doesn't work.

 

[Tranman]

I had just done a head swap about two months ago...here's what I came up with:

1. Your upper i/c pipes may not bolt on perfectly, I had purchased a new set of Dejon Tool Upper I/C pipes but they didn't fit because the intake manifold moved the throttle body closer to the front of the car...so I had to use my old one (Speed Design).

2. Replace all coolant/heater hoses and clamps. I had one blow after another because I tried reusing them...PITA.

3. The coolant hole in the block, use a M14X1.5 plug. If you or anyone needs one, I had some extras as I had to special order them for mine...and I had to order like ten.

That's all the problems that I ran into.

~Tranman

 

[BLITZ SPYDER]

Thanks for all of the responses and Tranman...how much do you want for the bolt? definately will buy it off your hand. What about the CAS? was it difficult to tap the intake CAM to fit the '97 CAS?

 

[Tranman]

Originally posted by BLITZ SPYDER
Thanks for all of the responses and Tranman...how much do you want for the bolt? definately will buy it off your hand. What about the CAS? was it difficult to tap the intake CAM to fit the '97 CAS?

Shoot me a PM about it, leave your address and stuff.

I was gonna try to tap it myself...but I decided to leave it to a machine shop with the proper tools. If you have a drill press, go ahead...but a hand drill, don't even try it. I just gave my local machine shop the camshaft, the bolt, and the fitting....it cost me $20, but better than screwing a $250 HKS camshaft

 

[Tevenor]

Originally posted by BLITZ SPYDER
Thanks for all of the responses and Tranman...how much do you want for the bolt? definately will buy it off your hand. What about the CAS? was it difficult to tap the intake CAM to fit the '97 CAS?

If you use 1G cams, the intake cam is already prepped for the CAS.

 

[BLITZ SPYDER]

Originally posted by Tevenor


If you use 1G cams, the intake cam is already prepped for the CAS.

OK..now i'm a little lost...I thought you had to tap the 1G intake CAM to fit the '97 CAS?

 

[Black95GSX]

Don't forget to clean your lifters! It's a pain in the ass.. but it works.

I went to ace hardware and bought a brass "rod" that was small enough to fit inside the pin hole at the top of the lifter... you push down hard enough and you'll feel a "valve" colapse in the lifter... allowing you to colapse the lifter (squirting out oil... and some nasty stuff).

I then "pumped" it full of ATF (Auto Tranny Fluid) to clean the inside of the lifter out (compressed and uncompressed it till it spit out only red fluid).... I then pumped it till no more ATF came out....

At that point I let them sit for about 20 min, then pumped them full of 10w30 to lube them up.... after they had sat in the oil (also filled in oil) I then pumped them till no more 10w30 came out.


Afterwards put the lifters in the car... no more lifter tick...... and they were in the correct position..... just an FYI, I did this swap a little over a week ago, and the lifters were stuck open after the visit to the machine swap.... I would of had some MAJOR problems had I driven the car for a while without doing this process. It's kind of a PITA, but good maintence.

Oh yeah, when you collapse the lifters and spit a lot of the oily goo off, if you pay attention, there is a little hole that lines up when you collapse them -- you may have to rotate the head of the lifter to find this, but you do need to get it lined up to clean the lifters properly


Also, when in doubt, go to www.vfaq.com -- they have info on cleaning lifters.


As far as the headswap itself... if your keeping your 2g fuel rail, you should be fine... if your swapping to a 1g rail, make sure it's from a 91+ -- the bastardized 90 fuel rail hits the TPS -- don't ask me how I know this ::sigh::

Also, your IC pipeing will sit 1" forward -- this wasn't a problem for me, as my IC pipe was built with a 2" gap (used an extra long coupler) in preperation for a 1g swap.

If you have any more questions, drop me an email at [email protected]

 

[Tranman]

Originally posted by BLITZ SPYDER


OK..now i'm a little lost...I thought you had to tap the 1G intake CAM to fit the '97 CAS?

If you use the 1G intake cam, you WILL need to drill and tap. But if someone decided to use a 2G 97-99 intake cam, you wouldn't have to.

 

[BLITZ SPYDER]

Originally posted by Tranman


If you use the 1G intake cam, you WILL need to drill and tap. But if someone decided to use a 2G 97-99 intake cam, you wouldn't have to.

Oh...so then what your saying is that I could just re-use my 2G intake CAM with no problem? so both 1 & 2G CAMS are the same except for the part that the CAS locks into? I'm also going to be re-using my 2G stock fuel rail.

BTW, Tran did you get my PM?

 

[Black95GSX]

Or you could do a 1g CAS swap Just be ready for some misfire codes (get a dsmlink and don't worry about it... then you can dis-able the check for misfires)

 

[Tevenor]

Originally posted by Tranman


If you use the 1G intake cam, you WILL need to drill and tap. But if someone decided to use a 2G 97-99 intake cam, you wouldn't have to.

Tran's right. My assumption was you were going with 1G CAS.

 

[doug]

I've read in other threads that a 1G N/T head would work also. Is this correct? Are there any other differences when putting it onto a 2G block besides the ones already mentioned?

 

[blackawdturbo]

Originally posted by doug
I've read in other threads that a 1G N/T head would work also. Is this correct? Are there any other differences when putting it onto a 2G block besides the ones already mentioned?

That's correct, 1g turbo and N/T heads are the same, just the cams differ. Someone gave me a N/T head so all I did was have it rebuilt and swap in turbo cams.