Rep Power: 255

hey all i attempted a headswap a month ago and things did not go over well. First time problems were not being able to remove the intake manifold the lower bolt on the drivers side seems impossible to get at. Couldnt get at it with a ratchet so used a wrench and now the bolt is rounded off on the exposed sides. also went to take off motor mounts and broke my socket

right now im so close its rediculus. i have a 3day weekend and figured 3 days for a swap would be plenty of time. i think i may be wrong. everything was going well. until i got to the intake manifold. i still cant get it off. So i figured why not just take the head off with the intake manifold on. this takes me to my next problem. I cant get the brake booster hose off the intake manifold. Also to make things worse I was just going to leave it and get it off once the head was free and i had more room back there but i cant get the lower timing belt cover off. the bottom front bolt seems to be rounded off (not by me) and the bottom rear bolt i cant get at. my 1/2" drive ratchet is too big to fit in there and my 3/8 too short or 3/8 with extension too long. This is really frustrating me cuz im so close all i really need to do is relieve timing belt tension and i should be all good but this is just making me so frustrated im considering just giving up and selling the stupid head. This pretty much is my last long weekend of the summer where i'll have free time to do this. And i'd feel really dumb having to pay to take it to a shop just cuz i couldnt get like 3 bolts out

 
Rep Power: 254

lol... you must be weak sauce if you cant get a vac line off . as for the timing belt, just cut it with scissors.... or use a screw driver to pry the belt off. you should replace the belt anyways so it really doesnt matter. and mostly everyone removes their head with the intake manifold still on.

 
Rep Power: 255

timing belt was just replaced 15000 kms ago thats less than 10000miles. so im not replacing it again. i found my solution. give up put car back together and get a shop to do the swap for me that way if somethign goes wrong its not on me.

 
Rep Power: 811

the intake mani bolts (or i think theyre nuts) you should be able to reach from above using a mini ratchet with 1/4 inch drive. head swap is not easy by any means so dont feel bad youre running into problems.

 
Rep Power: 223

The way i did it is instead of loosening with the timing belt, i marked the timing belt and the cam gear and removed the valve cover, got all the springs/retainers out of the way to where the cam would come out and removed the cam/cam gear together as one. U just have to make sure that u get the teeth back in the right spot. Its not that hard if u take ur time and have another set of hands helping u. The timing belt will stretch far enough to get it back on. When u slide the clamp that holds the vac line on off, take ur pliers and grab it and start twisting it back and forth to break the seal. Once it starts rotating it shoud pop right off. It took me about 6 hours to do the swap and as for the intake mani... Theres 5 or 6 u have to take off. If u use a wrench instead of a wrachet i think u'll have better luck with it. All the bolts/nuts can all be reached from the top of the motor. Hope this helps u out.

 
Rep Power: 304

pm unclejuice with any questions he's pretty good with headswaps

 
Rep Power: 254

just replace it. its like 15 bucks at autozone. once you get the belt off its easy sailing from there.