2TC head removal from car?

[VinceG2]

Hi all!

I have a 1975 Corolla with 2TC engine and automatic transmission. Recently my neighbor and I have been working on it (Car has not ran in a few years). I was wondering how hard is it to take the head off the engine by ourselves in the garage. I don't have any experience on this, he has some more then me.

The reason for wanting to take the head off is because the spark plug seals leaked and oil got through. I had the spark plugs off and they were blackened with carbon. I cleaned the spark plugs, ran the car again for 1-2 minutes, removed the plugs, and they were blackened again, so oil must be inside. We figure it's probably best to remove the head and clean it out. Help?

[luis86gt]

u don't have to remove the head to fix this problem. just repalce the valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals and the oil that is on the pistons will burn out after a few days. after that i would replace spark plugs and gap them to 37 if stock motor.

[Estebot]

The above is correct, you don't have to pull the head. Do the valve cover and plug seals. Take it out and runn it on the freeway. If you pull the plugs after a while and the plugs are oily, you have broken rings to bad valve seals etc.
the later tall calve cover with the seal that is pressed in seems to seal better than the flat one.

[pufito18]

i also agree with the guys they are correct

[VinceG2]

Just wanted to say thanks! I cleaned it all up and replaced the valve cover gasket and spark plug gaskets and ran it for a few days and no more stuff is getting on the spark plugs, so I will be putting the new plugs on this week when I get my new spark plug cables. Thanks again!

BTW, I see someone said gap them to 37, but I thought for a stock engine, you gap them to 31 (from the car owner's manual) or 32 (what NGK says for their plugs).

[sqznby]

I didn't want to start another thread so I'll go with this one seeing that its about removing a 3tc head.


I got my new rebuild head and would like to tackle this project soon.
What is the process of removing/installing?
I just got my new ARP head studs and am going to order a new intake and valve cover gaskets.
Is this something that I could take off as a complete assembly?
Someone had told me to take out the push rods.

Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks

[Estebot]

Yes. You can pull the head with the intake still attached. When you undo the rocker stands start from the middle and work out. It's best to get a manual. You will have to remove the pushrods. Set the engine up at tdc so its easy when pulling the new head on etc. follow the instructions or call arp for the head studs since you do not torque them like the normal head bolts.

I could do a little more step by step but once the valve cover is off, it's pretty self explanatory really. Just drain the water and let is sit a little so that you don't have antifreeze going everywhere into the pistons etc.

[sqznby]

Thanks Estebot, I appreciate the info.
Man, I just had to drain everything out of it the other day. Whoever did the swap only used zip ties to hold the radiator hose in place.
After a while they get brittle and snap, that's what happened and the radiator hose was rubbing against the crank pullie and wore a
hole in it, it wasn't too bad.
Thankfully I have a couple of manuals. I'll start going over them now, to be a little more prepared hah. At least while I'm waiting for
my gaskets and now thread chaser as per ARP to make sure the threads and bolt holes are clean of debris.

Thanks again