head gasket 8v turbo

[saabfan9]

hey guys i just picked up a rust free 900 8v turbo (texas car.. free)...anyway the po stated it had a blown head gasket and started to do the repair halfway through he hurts his back and gives up even has the upper gasket kit included (enter me) ...my question is have you guys seen alot of issues with the head or could i just get by with a slip and slide on the gasket?

[SwedeSport]

I guess that depends on why it blew the gasket. If it just plain wore out from miles/years, you can probably get away with slipping in a gasket.

I have destroyed about 3-4 stock 8v heads, mostly due to broken lifters/damaged valvetrain. Never had much trouble with warping them though.


My current motor has 3 years of hard abuse on it, and I just scraped and scotchbrited the deck, and lightly sanded the mating surface on a used rally head. The head was taken off a rally motor that had been ridden hard and put away wet many times. Other than the worn valve guides that drip into the cyl. it has been fine.

As long as both surfaces clean up, and are true flat, you will probably be fine.

[Crazyswede]

In stock form and normal driving conditions the 8v 900 heads are pretty tough units. I have see cars driven 50 miles with little or no coolant that simply had the head gasket changed out and were back on the road without any issues. I would just clean up both surfaces, stick the gasket in, and run it.

[SwedeSport]

The problem with them usually arise from too much RPM. The valves float, damaging the lifters.


I over revved one, cracked a few lifters, and in short order the lifter broke apart. The valve keepers dropped out, and the valve fell into the cylinder. Took out the piston, cyl wall, valve, several lifters, cam, cam cradle, and left dents in the combustion chamber.

[saabfan9]

thanks guys good to know .. I didn't want to have a lot into getting this car up and running before I tell the wife I got another car I figure it would be easier to break the news to her if it's a running car (I've had it stashed at a buddy's place for the past 10 months or so)