Help im stuck :(

[scooter perv]

Right, trying to get my head off to do the valve stem seals but im stuck at the first hurdle it seems digfant 8v cant get the bloody manifolds off, can anybody breifly explain the process? inlet off first then exhaust manifold where its bolted to head or am i completely off? Been trying to get a completely sh£$%ged bolt off the sheild behind the exhaust manifold to get to the bolts but not joy. rounded off completely and cant get it off so wondering if theres another way? The 16-17mm bolts that hold the manifold to the exhaust wont shift either but am I supposed to undo them nuts? whats the 2 cylindrical parts that seem to join the manifold with the rest of the exhaust? do I need a special tool? cant really see what they are or if they come apart

much help needed cos I feel like burning the bloody thing at the mo

[Benrevs]

Best thing is to leave both manifolds on and bring it all out the front of the car, just make sure the downpipe to first box join is nice and loose.  Seems impossible but get someone to help and will be easy.  Just watch you dont twit the head on the face of the block.  Once this is all off in one piece it will be a hell of a lot easier to work on.  Good luck!

[DarnPB]

Yup. Wot he said. Leave the manifolds on. Just disconnect the down pipe from the manifold. But drench the downpipe nuts with WD40 or mouse milk first and leave for a while prior to undoing.

[scooter perv]

Been going through the search engine ( was there problems with the site last night?) and saw that removing the manifolds was an option but thanks for confirming that for me..will give it a shot tonight if I get in early enough..thanks again ppl

[jezza16v]

Hmm, seen a 'how to' somewhere about replacing valve stem oil seals without taking the head off? Air pressure or rope trick I believe?

[tobz.]

Yep you need to coil a thin piece of rope into each cylinder as you work on it this will stop the valve dropping in when you remove the springs. The job can then be done with the head still on the car.

[russ-vdub]

I wouldnt recommend leaving the head on at all. May seem easier but its false economy. No doubt the engine has done over or near to 100,000 so the head will completely coked in carbon. The head should come off, valves re-lapped, inlets and exhaust cleaned and polished (not necessary to polish) and then during the this time fit new stem seals.

[uber pikey]

I replaced my valve stem seals the other day without removing the head, I used 3core cable that I had stripped from its outer shieth and fed it into the barrel(about 18foot of it) with the piston at the bottom of it's travel, then I used a cut down socket(double depth and tapped the valve collets loosly, then turn the engine over by hand so that the cable pushes up against the valves from within the engine. I run a 10mm nut over the closest rocker cover threads and then attached mole grips to the nut, I held the socket on top of the valve spring cover and a bar over the top of that and into the mole grips, this gave me the leaverage and control to push the spring retainer down and remove the collets(with a magnetic screwdriver).
Putting back to gether is a little trickier but you soon get the hang of it.
Hope this helps.
Uber Pikey

[Khare]

I wouldnt recommend leaving the head on at all. May seem easier but its false economy. No doubt the engine has done over or near to 100,000 so the head will completely coked in carbon. The head should come off, valves re-lapped, inlets and exhaust cleaned and polished (not necessary to polish) and then during the this time fit new stem seals.

i would do it russ' way. After 100k it wont be very nice. so its best to take it off, clean it, replace it, and refit it.

[uber pikey]

I agree with Russ also, I would recomend a full de-coke at this stage and an inspection of the pistons and barrels too.
If you do feel out of your depth though then start small is my advice to Scooter perv.