How many hours work is normal for changing head gasket on a 1983-model 944 NA?
Thanks.

 

Depends on your skillz... probably between 4 and 10.

 

Also depends on how much cleaning you want to do while you're in there.
Broken bolts happen sometimes too which complicates things.
And if you have a spare head ready to go, or if you're going to have your head rebuilt.
There is no reason to put a used head on your car without having it rebuilt first.

Getting the head off the car only takes 2-3 hours if you know your way around a 944 engine.

Scrub the deck surface well with your favorite gentle cleaning products (I like brake cleaner spray and green scotch brite pads and lots of paper towels, sometimes a sharp razor blade is useful for stuck gasket material)

This is also a good time to do the water pump.

 

...and the heater valve...and heater hoses...and reference sensors...reseal the AOS...and....

 

Working on my head gasket right now (so far can't tell you - it's on and off kinda thing: life happens!). But I had the head rebuilt by local shop, cleaned up the valve cover and modified tha look of the intake manifold (I'll post pics in a new thread) painted the valve cover and intake - freaked looks awesome. Anyway I'll let you know.

 

Those are good suggestions too! I would encourage people to at least inspect these items.

Luckily, those items are all easily done with just removing the intake manifold later if needed, which takes about 10 minutes.

 

I replaced mine last January. Taking the head off was the easy part. I think It took around 3 hours to remove and carefully tag and bag the hardware.
But I cant tell you how long putting it back together because I had other tasks, some planned and some not, that delayed completion. I hadn't planned on replacing my reference sensors. But the connector on one crumbled to dust. So I replaced both. So that delay was in waiting for payday, then mail ordering the parts. That was just one of a few delays. Total time I cant recall because I started in January and didn't complete it till February. It's good to have a garage where you can take it apart and not worry about everything being exposed to the elements.

 

I did my first ever head gasket a few months ago. Probably took 16 hours including all the painting and fretting and double-checking clarks-garage as I went. I'm pretty confident I could do it again in 6 hours.

 

Three days. The first day of taking it off maybe 1.5 to 3.5 hours depending on tools used and skills, then drive the head to the machine shop to have cleaned and any work needed done. The second day is about an hour spent cleaning the block/pistons and inspecting items to be replaced while the head is at the shop. If you get the head back the same evening you may be able to have enough time to install that evening. Otherwise the third day is spent either buttoning up from day two or waiting for the machine shop and have to install it when it returned. I would say 3 to 6 hours on install also depending on skills and tools. Always take more time to install. This is a good time to replace your idle air control valve hoses and rubber mounts and AOS tank O rings.

 

I would like to also point out this is a good time on day two to repair any oil leaks. On my day two of my rebuilds I resealed the ballance shafts and replace the oil cooler gaskets along with all the timing seals and sleaves. I was thinking if I'm in there I might as well seal it up.



I used WD40 and a 2" round medium scotch brite pad on the end of a drill. You can find them at the auto parts store with the body work items. Worked this good and it was in bad shape before I started!!!

 

It's usually quicker and easier to remove the exhaust headers attached to the head...

 

I recommend against scotchbrite / abrasive discs on drills or die grinders. The surface may come out looking shiny and silver, but inevitably the surface will not be flat because of inconsistencies in your hands and how you apply the die grinder.

I use a razor blade and patience. My machinist recommended I use sandpaper and a sanding block if I really needed to, and only on an iron block (my other car), and only after cleaning as much as I could. Next time, I'm going to try a piece of 1/2" thick glass as my sanding block, since glass is very flat.

 

Well of the 20+ head gaskets I have done in my life the scotch bright worked just fine. Never any head gasket failures after. And never mentioned a die grinder, that would be stupid! Definitely use WD40 to pre soak the head before using the wheel if you trust yourself. Here is a photo of the tool I used. Just don't hold it down on one spot, and don't push hard. It takes about 10 minutes of your life, not half a day with a razor blade and get a bad back from leaning over the engine bay the whole time.

 

If its your first time Id guess 12-20 hours. without air tools. I'm amazed at the speed some people are capable of.

 

Air tools aren't necessary for any part of it.
Once you know the "order of operations", what needs to be removed, what size bolts there are, etc, with regular hand tools the head is off the car in 2-3 hours.

I have had good luck removing the manifolds from the head rather than unbolting the manifolds from the Y-pipe. With some creative prying and use of a floor jack (to tilt the engine a bit) it comes right off/goes right on.

Although I guess if you had air tools at your disposal, a long extension and a U-joint you could zip off the exhaust->Y pipe bolts pretty quick, but I like to do as much work "above" the car as possible.