i also agree about the transmission tunnel, my only personal objection is the floor, where it can soak up moisture, as the top leaks etc. but thats just mu pionion

That's a good point, I think there may be some insulation under there somewhere, but there was none under the passenger side carpet when i lifted it up, just the carpet. The tunnel I haven't looked at though... good point.

A couple days ago my engine lost two cylinders. Stopped dead on the way to work! We had to tow it home.

We replaced every ignition part but could not get it to run on cylinders 3 & 4. Finally we broke down and bought a compression tester: 1: 120 psi; 2: 120 psi; 3: 0 psi; 4: 0 psi. Today I got the head off to see if I could find the problem, and low and behold, the head gasket between cylinders three and four is broken:



Fortunately the valves all look undamaged. Do I merely need to replace the head gasket and put everything back together? I can't believe it was as simple as this. Any advice on replacement and reassembly? Anything else I should do?

Well it all depends on your budget and how anal you are. For me I wouldn't want to be back in there unless you recently had the head work done. Yes you can clean up the block and bottom of the head and install a new gasket as long as the head is straight.

I would point out its a good time to go ahead and have the head disassembled, cleaned, check if it needs MACHINED surfaced to make flat or not, no belt sanding!. Check valves and guides and replace as needed and do a valve job, replace the valve seals and all the gaskets. Usually this would run somewhere of 150.00 - 300.00 depending on what the head needs.

At the minimum if the head is flat then I would replace all the seals and gaskets on the head and cam towers, adjust the valves, make sure the block is clean and straight, replace the aux, crank seal, tensioner and timing belt. Change the oil and filter, new coolant and any radiator hoses that deem too old. Chase the Head bolt thread in the block, clean old head bolts if reusing and soak in oil and drain before assembly. I use copper coat on my head gaskets but that's just my opinion.

But then again once I pulled my head the block was next to get to rings, hone, rod bearings and bolts, oil pump, replace damaged pan, clean breather assembly and new hoses and gasket, new fuel pump, rear main seal. I mean after all just look how much easier it is to get to those top bell housing bolts.

And guess what while the engine was out it didn't make sense to leave the trans there all alone, pull trans and replace all seals and gaskets in it and give her new oil too.

You can see how this can get carried away quick. But that's how I usually do things and because of that the new owner, good friend of mine, has been driving it daily trouble free for past two years and no leaks

- I cut two coils off the springs for the front. This will both stiffen the ride a bit and return the car to the European ride height that the suspension was designed for.

How did cutting two coils work for you. are the lower arms parallel with the ground or are the ball joints pointing up? Did you shorten your bump stops so it doesn't bottom out on every dip?

yes zulu you can just throw a new gasket in it
new fluids are in order
and if the belt isnt new replace it

Thanks for the responses.

SLO, while I wish I had the funds, I don't think I'll be going anywhere near that far!