jhesterx

I just bought a 1992 Protege DX SOHC , from a friend for $250 the car only has like 130,000 miles, He drove it with a cracked radiator and blew the head gasket. Is it worth it for me to take the head off, get it shaved and reinstall a new gasket? Also , will it smoke like a mo fo????

P-rotege

I think the 1.8L head is all aluminum which means the head could have warped due to the heat when the gasket blew. You could probably find a good used head from the junkyard and slap it on. It will be cheaper than machining work.

jhesterx

Even if i get the head fixed or replaced , what are the odds that the block/pistons are screwed. The machine shop will only charge me $50 to compression test/shave the head. am i better off getting a used one that might be in worse shape??

mannydingo

I've done this job a few times on different kinds of cars. I have always removed mine, gotten it shaved and put a new gasket on. Each time has worked out almost perfectly. On one car they had to replace two bent valves from a broken timing belt. The junkyard idea isn't bad if you look all around the engine to make sure it all looks clean as if it never had that kind of problem. I wouldn't risk it for two reasons: the head could be bad without a sign of oil or water and you would be removing a head twice and installing it once. That's three times the work instead of the two which is removing the old and putting it back on after machining. I know, I know--you're going to get the guys that say "it doesn't take any time to remove a head. I did it in like 2 minutes." Blah, blah, blah. It's not hard and doesn't take forever but it's still time consuming. Also, when you take your head to the machine shop, they will be able to find any other abnormalities that may need fixing or replacing. That's great to find out while it's out and not after you've installed the junkyard one if it has a problem already. It's a non-interference engine so a snapped timing belt in the past would not have bent any of the valves.

jhesterx

thanks for your help, im getting started this month i hope it all works out as easy as it does in my mind, does anybody know a price on radiators for these cars?