Fellas, and especially my bud from Central Mass 2002_z28-m6, I got the ground wires and the brackets off from the back of the heads.

Driver's Side Head:

I removed all 3 bolts (1 bolt with 2 ground wires; 1 bolt with 1 ground wire; and 1 bolt holding the bracket behind the fuel rail) from the top.

For the inboard 15mm bolt with 2 ground wires, I used a regular gear wrench, and laying in the center of the engine compartment, I used a hammer to break it loose, then just loosened it all the way using my fingers.

For the outboard 15mm bolt with one ground wire, I used a 15mm stubby gear wrench and broke it loose with a hammer, then used my fingers to remove it all the way, also laying myself into the front of the engine compartment.

The 15mm bolt holding the fuel rail bracket I removed it with a regular 15mm gear wrench, laying myself into the engine compartment and using a hammer to break it loose.

Passenger Side Head:

On this side there's just one 15mm bolt holding a round bracket that captures the wiring harness inside it. I tried getting it from the top but it was very difficult, so I crawled under the car and was happy to see that it was super easy to reach putting my arm through where the header feeds down. Keep in mind that I removed my headers completely so it was easy to get at that bolt. It might a problem, or maybe impossible, if you have your header resting inside the engine compartment. I just used a 15mm gear wrench and broke it loose using arm strength, and then finished removing it using my fingers. It's probably possible to remove it from the top but I wouldn't want to try to do it. There's so much stuff in the way on the passenger's side.

So finally I'm ready to remove my heads. Yippee! Later.

 

Predator I just took my heads off along with everything else. I was able to get a regular sized craftsman wrench back there to break loose all of those bolts on the back of the head. It wasnt all that bad honestly.

 

Congrats! These cars differ from year to year too, as explained by Jmx. It was a challenge for me. Good work!

 

Luckily all of those bolts are torque to yeild....it could be 10x worse

 

I just did it too. I had to get a wrench on the bolts and use a rubber mallet in order to get it to budge.

 

Wait untill you have to put them back on.

Should have posted in the eastern section. You could have gotten som help.

I live about 30 min from you

 

Pic's of mine in progress. I've done several sets in my garage.

 

<Wait untill you have to put them back on.>

Dave, could you elaborate what gave you problems putting the new heads on? Thanks.

 

Just remember what grounds you took off. They are dificult to put back in place when you have to do it by feel. A little harder than taking them off.

 

Oh im sure putting them back on will be a challenge. I am not looking foreward to that. Oh well it will be worth it in the end.

 

Nice looking heads-----

Bill

 

Will do Dave, thanks. I have it ingrained in my brain that the single ground goes outboard.

 

That's what I keep saying to myself, "it'll be worth it in the end." I think it's gonna work out fine though.

 

The problem with putting them back on is that I worried I wasn't getting them to the proper torque value. I did the best I could but I don't think the ground wire is fastened as tightly as it was from the factory. As for the other bolts back there, I think JMX just leaves them unfastened.

 

I'm not really worried about the brackets and ground wires in the back of the heads. The driver's side two ground bolts and the bracket bolt were pretty easy to get at from the top. The passenger side harness bracket seemed impossible from the top, but I got it out incredibly easy from underneath the car, so it should go back in easy too. I removed my headers completely though since I'll be installing ARHs, otherwise I don't think I could have reached that bolt from underneath.

The torquing the heads stuff seems difficult because of the location of the bolts closest to the firewall, but we'll see. Thanks.

 

"The torquing the heads stuff seems difficult because of the location of the bolts closest to the firewall, but we'll see."

It's not as bad as you think, take your time.

 

Glad to hear it Viper, and will do on taking my time.

Thanks for the moral support! It really helps. Thanks.

 

If I remember, I couldn't get my torque wrench on the back bolt(s) on the passenger side. But I think I had a good feel for it and got the initial torque close. Then it's two more passes in clocking the bolt in degrees. That too was a problem as I don't think I could turn the required amount all at once. I think JMX has us marking the bolt head with a marker if I remember.

Just a thought when you wrap this up; filling the radiator and block with coolant has its own problem too. The thermostat doesn't open soon enough to get coolant flowing through the engine. Because the thermostat has trapped air under it, the engine temp is higher than the sensor reads because the fluid is what transfers the heat. No fluid and little heat is registered so the engine block gets too hot before the thermostat opens.

Because my water pump (or gasket) began to fail sometime after the HC exchange, I drilled two 1/8" holes in the thermostat valve blade. This allowed the trapped air to be released and adding coolant to an empty block happens much more quickly and the temp sensor is accurate sooner.

 

I laid a heavy piece of cardboard on the valley cover - rested the head on it, attached the wires in the back and left the bracket bolt loose to slide the bracket on after the head was in place. Then put the head in place, torqued it down.

 

Just a thought, I can't see why I couldn't install the bracket on the driver's side before installing the head. The ground wires and the passenger bracket will obviously have to be after the fact.

Thanks for the other tips though, 01Z28M6 too.