Installing headgasket

[gomer23]

I tried searching and looked in the FSM and didnt see any details on this. How do I get the headgasket to align properly? With the ARP studs it keeps the headgasket close but I know this isnt good enough, how do I know and keep the head gasket in the correct position before I put the head back on?

[raremotive]

You still have the head dowels that go in front and rear of the engine?

[Shocker]

You still have the head dowels that go in front and rear of the engine?

thats what you need right there, they are those tubular pieces of copper/bronze material. The go in two of the same holes that the studs go into, they are just bored out slightly larger to accommodate.

[Darius]

And if someone should lose or bend one of them, I think one from a VH45 works when you cut it in half. I'm not positive that it is a VH45 dowel because I got it free from a dealer who had it in a misc. parts drawer and it was the parts guy guessing. Either way, it was a perfect match in diameter, but too long.

[gomer23]

thats what you need right there, they are those tubular pieces of copper/bronze material. The go in two of the same holes that the studs go into, they are just bored out slightly larger to accommodate.

ah ok, I saw the manual referenced a dowel but I didnt know where it went. I remember see those....now have to find them in my cups of bolts haha.

[DETurbine]

i believe i got mine from a vg30 if i remember correctly. they where a little smaller but having the slit on the side allowed me to stretch it out to the right size.

just make sure you have a good fit, if not and the head gasket is sitting in the cylinder , then you are going to have some serious problems.

[gomer23]

i believe i got mine from a vg30 if i remember correctly. they where a little smaller but having the slit on the side allowed me to stretch it out to the right size.

just make sure you have a good fit, if not and the head gasket is sitting in the cylinder , then you are going to have some serious problems.

Soooo where do I have to go then do get this magically things....pending i cant find mine tonight.

[Darius]

Nissan dealership

[gomer23]

Nissan dealership

awww gay haha.

Whats the term I will need to use to get the right parts?

[Darius]

Head alignment dowel or something to that affect.

[cdorhout]

I lost one of mine too, but I wasn't going to worry about it.

I can see the reason to have them when using the stock allen head bolts for the head, but when you're using ARP studs aligning the head will be a no brainer.

Are they used for anything other than head alignment and holding the head in place while you bolt it down with stock fasteners?

[ItzGenX]

Well, yeah... They hold the head and gasket in the EXACT location. The dowel pins have absolutely no play between the head and block side to side, where as the head studs or head bolts do have a little slack in their holes. Putting the head on without the dowels can allow the head to shift in different directions up to 2-3mm during installation. If you do manage to put the head on straight, I don't ever see it moving after torquing down. If you are already without a dowel or two, and the head was aligned straight during installation, then I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you have no dowels prior to installation, I would get some due to the nature of what CAN go wrong without them. They are cheap anyway. It's the little things that sometimes make or break you. I am pretty anal on my assembly processes, so if I personally found out I forgot one of the two dowels, I'd tear the motor back down .

[gomer23]

I found one of them but who knows where the other one went. *sigh* i'll have to make a trip to nissan tomorrow I suppose.

[Darius]

cdorhout, I will check to see if the Ames dealership has one laying around tomorrow just for good measure. You CAN physically have someone line the gasket up and make sure it doesnt move during installation, but the dowels help minimize movement if you are doing it alone.

[raremotive]

I don't know if this helps, but I used my rb26 as a reference...

[cdorhout]

Cool Matt, thanks!I haven't put the head on yet, so I might as well do it.

[Shocker]

Are they used for anything other than head alignment and holding the head in place while you bolt it down with stock fasteners?

Doubtful, but I had both of mine on when I did my HG. Just reassurance... if its only a few dollar part its well worth it from being slightly misaligned.

[gawdzilla]

i think theres 4 dowels... here's an rb20 head FAST Screenshot i happen to havehttp://i8.photobucket.com/albu...42501edit: maybe those middle 2 are restrictors, i don't really remember

[Carl H]

middle two are oil feeds.

[gomer23]

Ya there are just 2. Deturbine told me he used one off a Z32. So I went to Nissan today and got one ordered (none in stock) The guy there was really helpful. 4.94 was all it was for one (I did find one in my garage yesterday). If this works the part number is 11022-10V00