609DSM said:

I'm gonna go get the right harmonic balancer puller which is otc 6667. I'm gonna have to remove the front motor mount in order to get more access to the front right motor mount bracket. I can link the material I read that has directed me down the path I'm heading on. You said I cant do this without pulling the motor out which I see what you're saying but I've read of people doing their timing this way and the only thing preventing me from pulling my cylinder head off is the camshafts being in place with the timing belt. I could however be completely wrong as I havent found a head gasket replacement write up, I'm only going off what I'm piecing together from my research.

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609DSM said:

I also have the idler and tensioner bearings brand new to slap on the engine. Cant wait to finish this up but not trying to rush it. I'm confident I can do the rest now that all the hard stuff is done. Not looking forward to putting the motor mount back in place though haha

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609DSM said:

But you're right. It should be resurfaced

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Hey check out head resurface on YouTube if you can't find a machine shop. I got the nesscery items and tried it on a old head to see if it would work. Just follow his instructions I thought it was bs but it works and saves 40 bucks. I belive it will cost around 15 bucks for all the nesscery materials. Check napa or Google machine shop somewhere near by should be offering that service.

UDATE: okay so I've went ahead and ordered a straight edge and feeler gauges, I plan on doing the resurfacing on Thanksgiving when I have everything. My cam removal tool should come today. I have known about hand resurfacing and woke up and read your post, went straight to youtube and saw a video of these guys using tempered glass to stick sandpaper to for resurfacing the head. Turns out I have a coffee table with a 1/4inch thick piece of tempered glass that is big enough for what I need it for!

I bought a straight edge (oemtools brand) 24" in length and a set of feeler gauges.

I'll be uploading pictures of my progress as it happens for anyone that is interested, I know this isnt the right way to do this but I'm in a bind and have no one who is more experienced than I am where I live to help me and guide me. Wish me luck guys

DISCLAIMER: what I'm about to do I do not recommend doing yourself without the proper tools and equipment, even so I don't recommend doing a resurfacing job yourself unless you are a machinist. If you have the financial means and time send it off to a shop. Unfortunately for me I have no time and am not a machinist with a sweet garage shop. I've missed over a week of school, not having my car running is hurting my education and its absolute hell to get to and from work... this whole head gasket fiasco is a huge nightmare for me, but I am determined and skilled enough with mechanics that I'm confident with what I'm doing. A little background I've been an extrusion technician in the past and been around cars my whole life since I was young.

Head resurfacing technique. Using machinist straight edge and .0015 inch/.03mm feeler gauge to check for clearance across multiple points on the head. So far so good

I would clean those valve stems, my guy. Also check them to see if any are broken/need to be replaced.

Make sure to do your due diligence while everything is apart. Could you post a pic of the top of your head? I dont have a 420 so my help will be limited at best

I gotta say, that's a whole bunch of crusty and nasty stuff there. Was that engine under water? If you can get your hands on a drill and a brass wire brush then I'd go to town with that whole engine. And some degreaser too.

Also glad to hear that I'm not the only one that hates that upper engine mount.

Hey man, keep up the good work. I have a 420a and did a timing belt job a while ago, and it was pain. I know, working on a car when you need it running ASAP can be very stressful. I'm not very much of an expert but for the motor mount bracket (designed by a prime jerkwad), I kept trying to wiggle it, and raise the engine a little at a time. Eventually the engine will be just high enough it'll come out with some persuasion. If the engine's not high enough it'll fight you way more. Here was the writeup I used, you might have saw it already so apologies if you have.


https://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=Removal_of_Passenger_Side_Motor_Mount_Plate_Only
Since the pictures are messed up, I used a firefox add on to fix them (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/photobucket-embedded-fix/)

Sorry gotta rush to get to work just saw all these. Literally just finished putting everything back together. New belts timing is done correct. Couldn't clean the valves I have limited time and even more limited money.

Just to be clear this was a poor guys attempt to fix a problem with my car. I cant afford the 2k for a mechanic to do a head gasket replacement, but I certainly am a mechanic of sorts myself so I took on this job. Spent about 300 including special tool and all the gaskets I needed.

Idles a lot better now when I went for a test drive. Did the 5 minute idle on start up acting priming the fuel, started up right away btw. Shut the car off then sat for a couple minutes and then turned it back on for a 20ish minute easy cruise.

Noticed one of my heater core hoses was ripped, possibly why I thought coolant was leaking from the block **it was ripped in a spot where I couldn't see it** but the gasket replacement was well needed.