Fiat Dino Forum (FDF)

Hi

Just wonder if it is possible/ straight forward to remove the cylinder heads on the 2.4 Coupe with the engine in the car, anyone done this before?
I was hoping to do this without lifitng the engine out, so please share your experience.

Well since it was rehearsal "No Response" here on the forum (by natural causes), I greased up my elbows on fathers day, and spent some hours in the garage.
The cylinder heads are fully possible to remove with the engine in the car, I chose this solution since I already had removed carbs with manifold & camshafts. And I don`t have a garage lift or elephant, so complicated to drop/ lift out the engine & gearbox. It is a little fingeryoga exersice to remove the exhaust manifold nut`s, but fully doable. When I had removed all 6 nut`s and loosened the 3 into 1 collector, I could actually remove the manifold without removing the exhaust system

Nicely done!

Why the head removal?

Well it all started with an oil-leakage from the cylinder head cover gaskets
When I removed the headcover, I thought the camshaft lobes didn`t look so nice, so I removed them and delivered them to www.kmcams.com, the only camshaft grinder in Norway that I know about.
When mearsuring the cams, some of the cam-lobes where 1mm lower than std. specs!
So KM-CAMS has regrinded the cams now, and will be drillig lubrication holes on the lobe ramps, before hardening them again.
Since I already was so far down into the cylinder head, I decided to remove the heads to replace the "notorious" sodium cooled exhaust valves.

Too bad that the Forum was down so long, I did this first thing when I got my car and had plenty of photos and info to share! It looks like you mastered it with flying colours, congratulations!

If you haven't already bolted them back, I found that raising the back of the engine just a little with a jack gives you just enough wiggle room to put back the nuts on the back plate of the right bank. A little curil T or sealant on that plate will ensure that it won't leak onto your 3-in-1. Undoing one of the engine mounts makes getting the exhaust manifolds on and off a breeze. Vice grips do a nice job to hold the camshafts to align them while aiming the correct timing hole in the sprocket! You did do the locking bolt conversion to the belt tightener as recommended by ferrari, right?

Good luck,

Dario

Hi Dario

Thank you for the feedback.
I have not done anything with the chain tensioner yet, but are considering this mod, yes.
Hopefully I will have the cylinder heads fully overhauled and ready for installation in end of february.
So, let`s see what santa brings with him down the chimney