1987 NA MR2 head rebuild questions..

[GreeBo]

Ok so I managed to blow my head gasket (on my 1987 NA MR2) at only 120,000kms (thats what I get for all that redlining). The car had been getting progressively slower for a year or so.. too many leaks (oil and compression) beggining to get worse I think.

I have since had it removed and Hosey & Brown are going to town on it. So far they are:

- X-rayed the head for cracks.. everything looks fine.
- Sand blasted the head.. looks very shiny.
- Grinding the head a little bit (yay more compression)
- Grinding the valves (they were rough.. yay more compression!)
- Complete port/polish on what they have (top end) (Should breath nicely with the new header )

.. in addition ..

- I'm adding a Skunk2 header (something called a Blackjack)
- Using some interesting performance parts from a company called HIKSI gasketwise.
- New NGK plugs (NGK wires were already pretty new)
- New water pump
- New head bolts
- New timing belt
- Replacing some of the hoses that are getting rotten

.. so.. questions..

1) Anyone see anything i'm doing stupidly wrong? I've never had this done before.
2) Anyone every heard of HIKSI? Apparently they are related to TRD and make fancy bits for Supras..
3) Anyone used this "Blackjack" header? Is it worth my time?

.. thanks for any input you have

[ToyotaTechGeek]

make extra sure that your head is 111% clean. i don't (as well as many reputable engine builders) at all recommend bead blasting a head anymore. glass bead impregnates the aluminimum and can cause problems down the road. make sure that the valve lash is done properly and be sure that there's a drop of oil on the bucket before you put the shim on it. use just the regular NGK steel/copper plugs. nothing fancy needed. pretty much anything else is snake oil. i would change the valve seals too while i was in there. the Fel-Pro ones do quite well and they were (for me...i dunno how much they cost where you are) $30.00 vs the over $100.00 (my cost) from Toyota. danG! those things are expensive! also, if you got the valves machined, it might be worth the extra effort to hand lap them.

never heard of Skunk making 4AG parts, but then again, i never looked. haven't heard of the other brand you named either. if you are using a metal headgasket, the RA of the head surface has to be 'tight'. and you should also use ARP studs or new OEM replacements. make sure that you use Toyota 'red' coolant mixed with distilled water after doing a system flush and bleed the system according to the BGB. might be a good time for a thermostat and rad cap too. oh! if you replace hoses, do them all. the old ones will suffer (even if only slightly) from the possible extra pressure from the new hoses. believe me, after you bleed this thing properly, you won't want to do it again unless you really have to.