how do i change my head gasket ?

how do i change my head gasket ?, is it possible to take off head, inlet manifold all in one go, can you do it without having to reset the timing ? how hard a job is it because i can't afford garage prices so want to try it myself. any advice appreciated cheers….

Best bet is get a haynes and have a good read through the process 0- anything you don't understand then give us a shout.

Cheers

Rich

have the head skimmed when it is off,well worth the ?25 quid,also renew the timing belt and tensioner
Bert

……and replace the valve stem oil seals,  but first clean out the build up of carbon in ports and the backsides of the valves and lap them in with fine valve grinding paste (not forgetting to remove ABSOLUTELY all traces of the lapping compound from the valve seats and faces and anywhere else that it might have got to.  

As Crazyquiff says, get a Haynes Manual or Poor Richard's Rabbit Book (used - from Amazon - highly recommended) before you even attempt this job…its not at all difficult but there's a few pitfalls along the way.

The first question has to be, however, "why are you doing this???".  If its obviously leaking water from the head then fair enough….has it been "cooked" and warped as a result ? then it will need skimming. If it is burning a lot of oil due to kn*ckered bores/broken piston rings then changng the head gasket won't help.  If it puts out a lot of oil smoke after a period of coasting downhill with the throttle closed followed by flooring the loud pedal, then the valve guide oil seals need replacing…better done with the head off then replace the gasket.  Muck out the carbon from ports/valves and re-seat the valves anyway while its off the car.  You will probably need to replace the tappet shims anyway….and the timing belt / idler pulley..etc …as it recommends in the manual.

Good luck

Cheers

cheers for the replys. reason i think it's the head gasket is because it has started using water and my oil has turned to cream. i have not run it over long jouney's or drove it hard so i hope the head will be fine. there  is also oil seeping out of number 4 spark plug, is that  another problem?

i took my heaD OF WITH THE ALL THE MANIFOLDS ATTACHED

mk1jim said

cheers for the replys. reason i think it's the head gasket is because it has started using water and my oil has turned to cream.

Sounds like a head gasket to me. Apologies for stating the obvious, but don't run the car too much with oil like that if you can avoid it - you may end up damaging it quite severely.

How many miles has it done, out of curiosity?

sorry for late reply, it has done 165k, can anyone tell me is there a gasket that is better than a  standard vw or gsf  gasket kit ok?