Club 80-90 Forums

as it says n/s head leakin water very badly can i fix it? any advice appreciated

Depends on if you can get the heads off without the studs snapping if you can its easy enough to do engine out though

yeah these head bolts a bit hit and miss then? ive heard bout them but never done a flat four before? only had the bus 2/3 weeks!!! bought a duddn methinks anyway need to sort fast!!! looked at jk cat an a head set is £90 + head bolts so thinkin do the lot in one hit?? my thinkin is if ones gone the other aint far behind!? i might be wrong tho

GSF do a full gasket set for £60 it also sometimes depends on the year of engine i believe the earlier one were more prone to the studs rotting also when you drain it if the coolant is a rusty colour then that usually means problems

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I wondered why these bolts were such legends and so renowned for snapping until recently.

Then a nice man with a low bus and a 2.1 engine came into my garage and stripped the 2.1 down ready to go short distances very quickly. This gave me the opportunity to see these head studs - here is the reason they snap so readily:



Yep, they're about 25cm long and they're about the same diameter as an M8 bolt most of the way along. Couple this with the lovely bi-metallic corrosion effect of having steel studs buried in a nice alloy block and there's your reason for the snapping effect.

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I'm sorry about your shot seals.

not done it myself but I understand that it can be done with engine in place if the head comes off easily without the cylinder head liner coming with it.

bodged it up for the time being? drained the water and put some chemical metal in there!! seems ok for the time being