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Hi, Im not part of a v6 camaro forum cuz I have a z28 but currently both of my camaro are down. They both have 93k miles (lol!). My v6 is a 99 and has a blown headgasket (thats how I bought it) I drained the oil and sure enough, it was gooy. My Ls1 needs new lifters as it has a nasty ticking after my brother cold reved it. But long story short, I want to rebuild my Ls1 top end right and get it reliable enough to last me till I rebuild the bottom end.
My question howeverrrrrr is: is changing the headgasket on my v6 as easy as opening up the heads, cleaning the engine surface, and putting in new gaskets? My goal is to drop the engine (my first time) and do it right. Some weird friend of mine told me Id have to resurface the engine to put a new headgasket and another friend told me as long as I clean the block and the heads line up properly I should be good. What do you guys think? That weird friend also told me to forget changing the gasket n to use a headgasket sealer and jus flush out the system... Im thinking I should drop the motor and change the gasket as I want to fix my v6 to get a daily while I work on my z28. Also its my first time dropping the motor but I think Ill be able to do it and put it back together... worst case Ill part out the carrrr..
Dropping the engine should not be necessary.
just pull the intake, pull the bad head or both.
take to machine shop to make sure they are flat. Install heads. Install intake.
I got a smoking deal on 99 V6 Camaro with the same issue or so I thought. Removed the intake and heads from up top and after spending $ to go back through the heads, replace all the gaskets, oil and coolant only to start it up and find coolant back into the oil pan again..
Just sayin that it may not be a blown head gasket but something else like a crack in the intake manifold or worse a cracked block.
shiiiiii yea it kinda did. I just remebered that it'd prolly bad to have not drained the oil but it probably sat with water in the oil for over 2-3 months :l What kind of isses might that cause?? Fuc**** i messed up lol
I got a smoking deal on 99 V6 Camaro with the same issue or so I thought. Removed the intake and heads from up top and after spending $ to go back through the heads, replace all the gaskets, oil and coolant only to start it up and find coolant back into the oil pan again..
Just sayin that it may not be a blown head gasket but something else like a crack in the intake manifold or worse a cracked block.
This is why I want to drop the motor to make sure the motor isn't damaged and plus I could use the experience. Out of curiosity how many miles are on the v6 you bought? I'd assume and hope my engine would be ok but then again I did just realize I let the water mixed oil sit for a whileeeeeee (3-4 months or sum)
I don't know how many miles were on the motor since it and the transmission was given away. When you say it's free it won't take up space for too long. It did sit in the car untouched for 3-4 years and as a result it locked up so at the very least you should drain it and throw in some used or cheap motor oil and turn the engine over by hand now and again until you have time to pull it and and do the tear down.
You may luck out and it is just a blown head gasket and that can be done with the engine in the car. It just sucked after investing my time and money only to see that oil pressure was way too low and the coolant was back in the pan.
Chances are if you don't do a complete tear down and rebuild it will never be as good as before.
Also like @01CamaroSSTx said it could be something other than a headgasket so you are definitely taking a risk.
I once did a similar repair on an old S10 2.2 motor a relative blew up and let sit with water. I got it running for 150$ and drove it for over a year. It was messed up bad. After giving it a sandpaper hone, new head bolts, and fresh HG the engine only had 35 psi compression on #2 cylinder and I believe 65 psi on number 4. It's most likely the valves or valve seats that got corrosion and don't seal well
Letting it sit with water is a nono, and if you rebuild it ghetto like I did it will run like crap and may not even fix the problem.
^ I did this repair hoping the truck would last 3 days so I could move engines. I knowingly did things wrong as it was a blown up 400$ truck.
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headgasket question! 
It did sit in the car untouched for 3-4 years and as a result it locked up so at the very least you should drain it and throw in some used or cheap motor oil and turn the engine over by hand now and again until you have time to pull it and and do the tear down.
