Ross

Be wary - if it is a blown head gasket, and its been sitting for a year, the cylinder wall may have rusted!

Not a great solution, any of the above methods would be much more reliable.

you don't have to loosen them - just tighten them if they are below the specified torque.

Its not a good idea to over-torque heads - it is actually better that they are under-torqued than considerably over.

I was just reading that section in my hayne's manual, and it said to re-torque the head nuts on OHV engines only. Probably 'cos its so much of a pain on the OHC one!

Well, i had one that i literally just pulled straight out by hand, but the one i had to take out recently i ended up having to use a cold chisel! (obviously, the oil pick up was destroyed in the process!). Both were ea81s.

great, thanks.

Ok, thanks, ill probably go oem next time. I have put around 40,000kms (probably 3/4 in city, plus i always double clutch) on my aftermarket one, maybe i'm just lucky. I actually cable tied the cable just after the clamp to strighten it up, that may also have contributed to making it last longer.

If you are interested in the ea81t stuff, a wrecker in cromwell had an ea81t wagon very recently. I can give you the number if you are interested.

It will tow 1,500lbs fine, as long as the load is properly balanced. These cars are not strong enough in the rear end to take excessive tongue loads from an improperly balanced load.

I'm not talking about planing material off the whole surface, just increasing the volume of the chamber where the valves and spark plugs sit. A die grinder does the trick - i've seen it done on a chevy 8 before.

If you want to lower the compression, you could try taking some material out of the head. There should be plenty before you hit the water jacket, you might want to try it on an old one first though.

Yes, it is only the pistons that change the compression ratio - the head makes no difference. The N/A pistons should be just as strong as the turbo ones.

Try loosening the bolts that hold the block together near the pump - i've heard that can help.

Sorry, top rings have chamfered edges.

Really? How long do dealer ones last?

Yeah, i have a scanned copy of the fsm. Im presuming the top ring, with chamfered edges, goes up either way, since it seems symetrical and has no markings. I still dont know what way the second ring with the step in it goes. Anyone?

Mine is an '83.

Yeah, a drift is fine. Make sure you tap them out straight (work the drift around the bearing) or else they'll get stuck.

Part of the clutch cable. You should be able to get one at most parts stores.

Nice one! Glad you fixed it. What size wheels are on that?

I don't think the grommet is your problem - its probably where the cable connects to the pedal box. It has a cast metal peice at the end which gets clamped on - this metal peice likes to break now and then. Check that. If thats broken, you need to replace the clutch cable.

The packaging says the opposite....

OK, so i believe that oem rings have a mark on the top to indicate which way up they go. The ones i have do not. The top looks symmetrical, while the 2nd ring has a step in it - you can see it in the pic.

Yeah, although not as much as I had planned...... I had measured my crankshaft with a hired out micrometer, and found it was below the spec for .25 undersize - thats the main reason i wanted your engine. When I borrowed a mic from a mates workshop, i found that mine was within spec for the .25 undersize after all!!! I'm still using the crank from your engine, as the journals look smoother, also i'm using your intake manifold (cleaner!), injectors (no broken caps!) and valve springs. Plus now i've got heaps of spares for it.