Hey guys, I have done the research (well I think I have) and I want to upgrade my EF XR6 cam to a Wade 1636 grind. However, while I am doing this I want to kill a couple of birds with one stone. AFAIK the head gasket has never been changed but I think it is leaking as there is a small amount of coolant leaking around the exhaust side of the engine. Also the HLA's are knackered and need to be changed out also. I'm picking up a Dremel while I'm down so I was thinking that while the head is off I might try my had at port matching the extractors or anything else you might suggest.

While it seems there is a lot here, I just want to know before I start what parts I should look at replacing while I'm doing all that. I'm in Perth for the next couple of days and would like to get everything before I head back up north and pay huge for parts up there. Any help appreciated.

Is the cam going to be reground or are you getting a billet? If its a reground cam, you'll need an extra set of shims for the rockers. Depending on what Wade recommend, a vernier cam gear may also be needed to dial in the cam properly, although the cam should run okay with the standard gear. Would probably pay to grab a new set of lifters and chuck them in along with the cam if the old ones are stuffed.

Chances are the head gasket is had it if its leaking around the exhaust side so id chuck a genuine AU gasket in there when it gets done and get the head shaved a few thou to make sure its completely flat and to bump up the comp a bit along with the thinner headgasket. You could try having a go at the ports with the dremel, but be careful when doing so. When i did the headgasket on mine, i did a bit of port cleaning up myself but basically only smoothing out the burrs around the ports on both intake and exhaust.

So to do all that all I need is a Head Gasket, some shims and lifters? Everything else can be reused, or won't be worth replacing yet? Head bolts and everything? Just want to clarify, as I have never done this before and want to have all the parts ready before I start.

things that I believe you will need to do and get before doing this.

Get head checked for warping and resurfaced if need be.
new head gasket,
new head bolts
new exhaust and inlet gaskets
some shims (if cam is regrind)
new themorstat housing-to-head gasket
rocker cover gasket
timing chain gasket
bunch of O-rings for timing chain tensioner


Optional things.
new lifters
vernier gear
thermostat
thermostat gasket
radiator checked/relaced
all coolant hoses replaced

You can do a lot while the head is off. The only problem is money.

I personally would grab as many things as possible and do everything all at once rather then do bit by bit.

hope that helps

phong =P~

First things first


A cam is always a good start.

Phong sumed it up.

Cheer's phong, exactly what I was after.

lol, just make sure you don't break the timing guide like I did lol, if I can find the thread buried in her I'll be able to show you what happened to me.

The best power gain you could make & then the rest like bigger intake, exctractors, exhaust ect.
If your interested i'm selling my 1636 wade cam. PM ME.

you will also need some gasket stripper, a decent broad blade paint scraper, you may want to get some Hylomar. what ever you do, do not use gasket in a tube stuff. is a crap seal and horrid to get off if you ever need to. You will want some good quality 6 point sockets, a good breaker bar, for getting those head bolts to crack, you will also need a torque wrench. a mate with a workshop manual to get the torque settings, you will need to supply beers or fluids for the day for all those attending, Payment for assistance and guidance on the day should be done with either a BBQ lunch or hotdogs. you will be amazed how well hotdogs go down when working on a car, onion cheese mustard and BBQ sauce.

As already mentioned new head bolts are essential. If you have time leading up to the head coming off, soak it with WD40 or siilar product, last thing you want is to post a thread on here that you have snapped or rounded a head bolt and how do you get it off, cause the answer will be with either an easy out, or bashing a smaller socket onto the bolt head or welding a socket onto the bolt head.. so you can see that will be fun.

Cheer's for the advice todd! No hurry with it coming off, its got another 1600km to do tomorrow - fingers crossed the head gasket hangs in there for that. Maybe I should pack some coolant?

Good idea with the six sided sockets, we have some six sided impact sockets at work (super hard) so I will use them. I have a Haines manual, I'm pretty sure it has all the requisite torque settings in it and my next door neighbour (good mate) has a torque wrench that I can use. I will penetrene all of the bolts before I start.

Is using hylomar a good idea? I would have thought the gasket would be a fairly precision machined bit of gear, shoving a bit of gasket stuff under it wouldn't be that good an idea?

AU metal gasket doesnt require hymolar spray, but people spray the s**t on anyway then swear by it because nothing bad happens, so its up to you which way to go

I didn't spray hylomar on my gasket...still working fine even after I dropped coolant rapidly and having the temperature gauge hit the red for a couple of a second or so. It's been a year an a half or 2 years since my head gasket change.

Just up to you if you want to use it or not. Don't think Ford sprayed anything on it prior to installation.

phong =P~