P38 head gasket extras?

[LavisLane]

Hey all,

I've had a small leak for a little while and have had some solid advice that the head gasket will need to be done in the near future. I've been losing a lot of power lately, even with the new Haltech so thinking i need to bite the bullet, even if it is a tiny leak - really hoping that this is what the power loss is...??

Anyway, i'm thinking that while the jobs being done, there may be other things worth doing in there at the same time? Anyone? with the haltech i've got at least 15% more power and often wonder i need to get strengthen the rods as they do with my mates Falcon FPV upgrade.

This ones going to hurt isn't it....


D

[PaulP38a]

If it is just the head gasket(s), it may not be so bad. I'm in the process of replacing them on my '99 Thor motor, and while certain aspects of dismantling the motor have been painful, I'm glad I'm having a go at it myself.

On my previous Rangies, head gasket replacement has been in the range of $2k - $4.5k depending on condition of the heads and other components such as rockers, cam, crank etc.

I got a "VRS kit" that contains most gaskets and rings required, new head bolts and decided to swap out most of the hoses as well. I'm also picking up an Elring triple layer head gasket instead of using the one in the VRS kit. I'm estimating between $1,000 and $1,400 all up in parts and head clean-up.

At some point, I'll write up the "refresh" at http://paulp38a.com (http://paulp38a.com/) but the photo-journal is up at Engine Refresh (http://paulp38a.com/gallery/v/99RR/Engine/) and is a work in progress - over 200 pics so far - so I can remember how it goes back together :D

Hope this can be of some help if you decide to have a go at it yourself.

Cheers, Paul.

[LavisLane]

Thanks Paul, I won't be able to do this one on my own unfortunately this time but will definitely be checking the site to see your work.

Best of luck!

D